No Lucky Matter
by cabgrant
Summary: The Loud parents get their kids taken away due to Lincoln being labeled 'bad luck'. Lynn Jr. gets sent to juvenile hall and Aunt Shirley decides to take in five of the sisters including Lynn Jr. upon her release from juvie. This is an AU story based on NSL.
1. Chapter 1

No Lucky Matter

**Yes, I've finally decided to do a NSL story but there will be no demonizing of the Loud sisters and Lincoln isn't going to be treated like a saint. This is an AU version of the episode**

"Why is a child wearing a mascot costume in extremely hot weather at the beach?" someone might wonder but in Lincoln Loud's case, it all started when he attended or was forced to attend one of his sister Lynn's baseball game after she threatened him with by tapping her baseball bat in the palm of her left hand repeatedly. When her team ended up losing, Lynn suddenly blamed him for bringing bad luck and causing the loss to happen before banning him from attending any more of her games. Things started going south as Lynn continued accusing him of being bad luck and Lincoln deciding to pretend he was, only because he wanted some alone time from attending his other sisters events. Eventually the whole family became convinced he was bad luck so they started excluding him from every family outing.

(From this point, the rest of the episode plays out until the end when the family is at the beach with Lincoln wearing the squirrel costume.)

Ten minutes had elapsed since Lincoln Loud had taken off the head of the squirrel costume to get some relief from the blazing sun and screamed at by his sister Lola to put the head back on. Fortunately two beach security officers were heading back to the station after lunch and one happened to glance over to where Lincoln was standing.

"Hey Josh, someone is wearing a mascot costume on the beach!"

The security officer named Josh looked over to where his coworker was pointing, "That's probably some pledge being initiated by his fraternity brothers," Josh remarked.

"Guy looks a little small for a college student, it's a kid," the other named Katie replied

"You're right," remarked Josh, before he realized something, "Let's check the kid out before he gets a heatstroke in this blazing sun," Josh added, a little concern evident in his voice.

Lincoln, the sixth child in a family of eleven children, was the person inside the costume. As expected in this merciless heat, he began to sweat and was becoming quite thirsty. While he pondered the idea of asking his mother for a bottle of water to quench his thirst, Lincoln felt someone tapping on the costume.

"Hey Kid," the boy heard Katie say, "You cannot wear this on the beach."

Lincoln began shaking his head vigorously being fearful of angering his family if he took off the costume.

"Kid is someone forcing you to wear the costume," Josh asked sensing Lincoln's apprehension.

"I'm Josh and this is my coworker Katie, we're lifeguards, we can help you." Josh continued.

Reluctantly Lincoln removed the head of the costume and told them, "My name is Lincoln Loud."

"Come with us to the office, Lincoln and tell us everything after we get you something to drink," Katie said with a kindly tone.

The rest of the Loud's were too busy enjoying themselves to notice Lincoln leaving with the two officers.

The two older sisters Lori and Leni were laying on beach towels getting suntanned, Lisa the genius sister was walking around with Luan picking up seashells while the twins were making a sand castle.

When the trio were out of the family's range of vision, they entered the security office. Their supervisor looked up with curiosity when two of her employees walked in being accompanied by a kid wearing a mascot costume.

"We saw this boy standing in the sun wearing this costume," Josh explained.

Lincoln accompanied the two officers inside the small cafeteria whereupon Katie grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and handed it to Lincoln. After drinking until the bottle was empty, he removed the body of the costume, then sat down at one of the tables. He was only wearing his jeans since he wasn't allowed the chance to throw on some beach trunks by his parents since the family were in a rush to get to the beach. Katie took a seat facing the boy and began questioning Lincoln.

The Louds still hadn't noticed Lincoln's disappearance except Lucy the Goth sister. When she noticed Lincoln not standing where she last saw him, Lucy just thought he went to find some shelter from the blazing sun. Seconds later, while the sister continued enjoying themselves an announcement was heard over the intercom.

"LOUD FAMILY PLEASE COME TO THE LIFEGUARD OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!"

The Loud parents exchanged puzzled looks upon hearing the announcement. Suddenly remembering about Lincoln they began panicking when they turned around and noticed Lincoln had disappeared.

The Loud sisters immediately appeared beside their parents looking anxious.

Upon noticing Lincoln missing Lori asked, "Do you think something happened to Lincoln?"

"Should we start packing up," Luna asked

"No we have to find out if it's about your brother," Rita responded.

The family headed as quickly as possible into the direction of the office located near the beach's entrance.

Upon entering the small office building, the Louds came upon Lincoln sitting in the front entrance near the cafeteria wearing a blue t-shirt Josh retrieved from the lost and found. The officers became astonished at Lincoln's large family

"Is this your family Lincoln?" Katie asked him.

"Yes," Lincoln replied in all truthfulness.

Josh and Katie looked at Rita and Lynn Sr.

"Your son told us he was wearing this costume because he made a bet with his sisters that he could wear it for three days without ever taking it off, is this true," Katie asked in a serious tone.

"W-w-well you s-s-eee," Lynn Sr. stammered.

Suddenly Mrs. Loud began feeling guilty about Lincoln having to resort to making up a story to hide the fact his family was using him as a good luck charm to protect his sisters and parents from bad luck.

"Lynn please," Rita pleaded to her husband, then sighed in defeat, "I'll tell you the whole story."

End of first chapter

**I know it's a short chapter but it's all I can write at the moment.**

**I'm taking a break from the story Showdown at the LOUD Corral because of writers block.**


	2. Chapter 2

NSM

**AN: Hello again, I would like to point out in this story, Lincoln won't be sleeping in the back yard after he was kicked out of his bedroom**

Rita approached her son then sat down beside him sporting a look of regret then she began to explain how Lincoln's situation began.

"It all started after we attended one of Lynn Juniors baseball games. She accused Lincoln of being bad luck because her team lost and therefore she banned him from attending any more of her games. At home I overheard Lynn telling Leni he was bad luck when Leni wanted him to attend her charity fashion show and that he should stay home. To my surprise he agreed with Lynn but something told me he was lying about being bad luck because he sounded a little too eager about saying he was," Rita explained.

Lincoln couldn't believe what his mother just revealed, "Wait a minute, you figured I was pretending I was bad luck," he uttered wide eyed with disbelief evident on his face.

"Yes Lincoln so I mentioned it to your father that night and we agreed to go along with it by pretending we believed Lynn's accusation," she replied.

Lynn Sr. nodded, "That's the reason I pretended your bad luck would ruin the presentation I was making for my boss and made you eat breakfast in the living room. We told your other sisters you were pretending to be bad luck and Lori and Lola decided you should be taught a lesson about refusing to support your sisters at their events and we agreed with them. Not allowing you to come with us to the movies was Lori's idea," Rita added.

Lincoln became curious about why his room had to be boarded up and asked, "So boarding up my room was whose idea."

"Mine son, and I told Lana to do it," his father confessed, "It seemed a rather drastic thing to do but it was a part of the lesson."

"And I wrote the note saying you cannot sleep in there that night because we couldn't risk your bad luck," Lynn Jr. revealed.

The parents suddenly became quite unsettled and were having second thoughts about mentioning the part about Lincoln being sent to sleep on the back porch

Josh and Katie waited for them to continue. Rita turned her gaze to them and sighed.

"I was waiting for him downstairs and told him he was sleeping on the back porch. I placed a pillow out there for him to sleep on and five of his comics and a video game in a plastic container for him to occupy his time with. We intended for him to stay out there for two days," Rita said.

"Bur how did that lead to your son wearing the costume on the beach?" Josh inquired.

"I wanted to prove I wasn't bad luck by going to another game Lynn had the next day so I waited until everyone left and went to the stadium. I persuaded someone to lend me the costume, sneaked into the game wearing the mascot costume and surprise Lynn's team won, I removed the head of the costume while I was congratulating her with everyone else," Lincoln explained, then sadness came over him.

"And when you told us wearing the costume was the reason her team won, Junior and we pretended to agree with you and said you had to wear it everywhere we go to keep bad luck away from us, that's why you saw him wearing the costume," Lynn Sr. said.

Then Rita chuckled nervously and said, "So we were just teaching him a lesson, I was going to allow him to remove the costume twelve minutes after we arrived, then I'd explain it was his punishment for lying to us."

"Then we were going to return it tomorrow," Lori added.

The two officers remained silent while listening to Rita and Lynn Sr. explain the situation, being successful in hiding their shock and disbelief at how two parents could agree with one of their children standing in the summer heat in a mascot costume even for only a few minutes as punishment for lying and kicking them out their bedroom and making them sleep on the back porch with only a pillow.

"So that's it, now is there anything else you need to know," Lynn Sr. asked

Katie then replied, "Could you wait one minute?" Some moments later Katie then returned carrying a notepad and a pen.

"Mrs. Loud could I have your address and telephone number?" she inquired using a solemn tone of voice.

"Is that necessary?" Rita thought to herself

"Our address is 1216 Franklin Ave, Royal Woods, Michigan," Rita began then waited for a few seconds for Katie to finish writing, "And our phone number is …''.

After Katie jotted down the information, she said, "That's all we need to know, Mr. and Mrs. Loud, it was nice meeting you Lincoln," Katie added then gave a friendly smile to the eleven year old.

Lincoln rose to his feet and replied, "Thanks for everything Katie."

As the family walked out of the security office with Lincoln holding the body of the squirrel costume while Luna carried the head, Rita fished in her green purse for her car keys and handed them to Luna.

"Luna take Lincoln and your younger sisters to Vanzilla while the rest of us get our belongings," she asked.

Without a word Lincoln merely followed Luna and the younger girls in the direction the van was parked, walking a few inches behind his sisters while Lucy carried Lily. His mind was still spinning regarding his parents revelations and suddenly an irritated look came across Lincoln's face.

"This is ridiculous, doing all of that just to punish me, why didn't they just taking away my comics and video games for two weeks," he thought fuming.

"Then again, they always have to overdo things," he muttered, "Like when dad became obsessive about that new van he bought and didn't allow us inside it until we met certain requirements."

After Luna unlocked Vanzilla's doors, Lucy placed Lily in her baby seat and Lincoln sat behind the driver's seat after tossing the bottom half of the costume in the trunk. They waited for a while until everyone else arrived toting everything that was bought to the beach. Lynn Jr. and Sr. were carrying the picnic basket that remained untouched since they never had the chance to eat lunch.

As Lynn Sr. navigated Vanzilla toward the beach exit, Lincoln suddenly remembered he wouldn't have a bed to sleep on since Rita mentioned she sold his furniture.

Before Lincoln could ask the parents about where he would sleep tonight he heard Rita say, "Oh Lincoln we didn't sell your furniture, we just made that up to show you how lying can lead to trouble."

During the journey home while a music station played pop music from the nineties, silence reigned between the siblings and parents. Rita was grateful for the peace and quiet which was unusual given the sisters rowdy natures.

Upon reaching home, Lincoln was the first person to unfasten his seatbelt the instant Vanzilla had pulled into the driveway. He quickly opened the door and began walking as fast as he could towards the house. Once Lincoln placed the spare key back under the welcome mat after unlocking the front door he dashed inside the house. On the journey home, one thought had swirled through the mind of the only son of Rita and Lynn Sr.

"I'm getting tired of being treated like this, I might have to do something drastic like move in with Clyde, I just don't know what."

Little did the family know a different set of events would occur within the next few days.


	3. Chapter 3

Inside the house Lincoln made a beeline straight towards Lana and Lola's bedroom where he removed Lana's tool box from its place under her bed and started rifling through the box. He grabbed the claw hammer then approached his bedroom door and began pulling the nails out of the wood Lana nailed on the door but the first nail he tried removing wouldn't budge, a few seconds later Lana and Lola came upstairs carrying their beach toys and saw Lincoln. Lana dropped her bucket and pail next to her bedroom door and rushed over to her brother.

"Hey Lincoln, step aside, I'll take them off," Lana told him.

While Lana worked on removing the boards, Lincoln sat on the ground beside his bedroom. When the other sisters gradually came upstairs they passed by without saying a word to Lincoln. Once the last board was removed, Lana uttered, "All done Lincoln."

Relieved to get back into his bedroom Lincoln said, "Thanks Lana," in a rushed tone, dashed inside and slammed the door. For the next hour Lincoln secluded himself from his family by reading comic books, only leaving his bedroom once to make a quick trip to the bathroom to use the toilet.

An hour and ten minutes later, Rita approached his bedroom and knocked lightly on the door.

Hearing the knocking, Lincoln became a little irritated and thought, "What do they want now?"

Not waiting for a response from her son, Rita walked into Lincoln's room, he glanced up briefly from the comic he was reading and gave her a look of annoyance.

"I thought you and dad were busy building a pedestal to place my sisters on," he suddenly asked in a sardonic tone of voice.

"Lincoln, we know you're annoyed with us for agreeing with your sisters plan to teach you a lesson but you should have told us you wanted a break from attending so many events," Rita spoke.

Lincoln then gave his mother a look of disbelief.

"Then you would have told me family always supports each other, I've heard it many times before," "Lincoln responded.

"Yes you should but we know everyone has their limits, we would have allowed you to miss some events," Rita told him.

"But they would still get angry even if I was given permission to stay home," Lincoln added.

Rita then sighed then said, "Dinner will be ready in an hour, your father is making macaroni and cheese."

Rita departed from his bedroom and went to work on her novel. An hour later Lincoln heard Rita yelling, "Dinner's ready."

The boy rested the comic book he just finished reading on his bed and got up. He was actually a bit reluctant to join his family for dinner but wanted to get a break from being holed up in his room.

At the dining table, Lincoln kept silent while he barely paid attention to the conversations taking place. He didn't bother to groan in annoyance at a lame pun Luan made

"Kids remember you have school tomorrow so after dinner please pack your school bags," Rita reminded them eliciting a chorus of groans amongst the sisters except Lucy.

"And I don't want to hear any complaints when I say turn the TV off and go to bed," Rita added.

After Rita said those words Lincoln happened to glance at Lynn Jr. who at the moment shoved a chunk of macaroni and cheese into her mouth like a greedy pig. Suddenly he began to feel intense hatred towards his athletic sister and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"That's it I'm telling mom and dad about her threatening me with her bat even if it means being labelled a tattletale, so be it," he thought.

When the cherry pie Lynn Sr. made for dessert the night before was eaten, everyone prepared to leave the table but Lincoln stayed seated.

"I have something I'd like to say," Lincoln announced in a loud voice. Everyone returned to their seats

He glanced quickly at the sisters then looked directly at his parents with determination.

"Why did you have to take such drastic measures just to punish me for lying? I could have gotten a terrible sunburn on the beach if I wasn't rescued by people who treated me as a human being. Why didn't you just ground me for two weeks? I know I misbehave too but making me wear the costume at the beach was just ridiculous," he told them.

"I'm sick and tired of being threatened, bullied, blackmailed and blamed for everything. My sisters are allowed too much freedom and hardly get punished when they misbehave. They just barge into my room without knocking and they pushed me out of my room twice and prevented me from watching TV when that ridiculous sister fight nonsense was in effect," he declared.

"Hey the sister fight protocol is not nonsense," Lisa shouted in defense of the document she created.

Lincoln ignored the toddler genius and continued, "Mom, dad, I want you to know Lynn threatened to hit me with her bat when I told her I wasn't interested in going to her baseball game the day Lori had that golf tournament."

Rita and Lynn Sr. were shocked at his revelation while the girls except Lucy and Lisa looked horrified.

"LJ is that true," Lynn Sr. managed to squeak out

Suddenly Rita became enraged and shouted, "What is the matter with you LJ!"

"All right I did hit the bat into the palm of my hand in a threatening way to scare him into going satisfied," Lynn Jr said without any regret.

An infuriated Lori sprang from her chair then she started clenching her hands into fists and started laying into her younger sister.

"How could you do something like that," Lori shouted, "I'm gonna…

Not showing any fear whatsoever of her sisters rage, Lynn Jr. scoffed, "Oh Really Lori I seem to recall you getting ready to throw the small living room table at Lincoln when he refused to go with you on that double date with Bobby and Ronnie Anne."

The parents turned to Lori giving her looks of disbelief. The younger girls and Leni who were upstairs that day listening on Lori and Lincoln didn't react while Luna and Luan who had after school activities that day were in total shock.

Lori immediately sat back down and asked, "Wait, I thought you had roller derby practice after school."

Lynn Jr. decided to take the opportunity to focus attention away from Lincoln then she smirked at Lori.

"I was outside bouncing my basketball on my head and heard you screaming at him. After a while I looked through the living room window and saw you holding the table above your head getting ready to throw it at Lincoln," she continued.

Rita suddenly found her voice, giving Lori a stern look she declared, "Lori you are grounded for a month, hand over your phone tonight, this also means no trips to the mall."

"Mom you can't be serious," Lori pleaded in a panic, "I did that a few weeks ago."

Rita gave her daughter a hardened glare almost making Lori shiver

"Junior you're also grounded for a month for threatening Lincoln with your bat, I want you to pack up all your sports equipment tonight because you won't be playing any sports for two months," Rita added.

"But Mom, I have a roller derby game this Saturday," she pleaded desperately.

"Well you won't be participating," Rita said coldly, "Lincoln you can continue."

Lincoln resumed speaking, "Lola I won't tolerate being threatened and blackmailed by you anymore and Lynn stop treating me as a punching bag because I'm going to fight back, I won't be helping anyone paint their nails or doing any other favors if I continue to be treated as a third wheel by everyone. That's all I have to say."

Once he walked away, Lori and Leni began clearing the table. Back inside his bedroom Lincoln packed his school bag then took a shower before settling down to a video game before going to bed.

**AN: I hope I didn't make Lincoln sound arrogant and too preachy.**


	4. Chapter 4

While Lucy was currently watching TV with the twins, Luan and Luna, Lynn Jr. was cramming her sports balls into a medium sized black garbage bag.

She started grumbling under her breath, "That little snitch, I'd pulverize him but then mom would probably ground me for three months."

After getting every last ball into the bag then her sports cleats, Lynn placed it outside her doorway alongside her hockey and lacrosse sticks, then went back inside to change into her nightshirt. Rita was leaving Lisa and Lily's room that moment having put the two girls to bed. The mother smiled in satisfaction upon seeing the sports equipment standing outside of Lynn and Lucy's door then grabbed the garbage bag in her right hand and the sticks in the other and headed downstairs to store them in the garage out of Lynn Juniors sight.

Meanwhile, Lori and Leni were talking in their bedroom while packing their school bags.

"Lori, I was thinking about Lincoln, we really should start being nicer to him," Leni began.

"I guess we all could start acting respectful towards each other and Lincoln," Lori replied.

"You seem to treat him more roughly than all of us," Leni began.

"Look I only treat Lincoln harsher since he's a boy," Lori admitted to the sixteen year old.

"You think that's fair, we always gang up on him like the time we ruined his chances of getting the sweet spot and we destroyed Vanzilla," Leni continued.

"Please don't remind me of that," Lori pleaded, "We literally had to give up our allowances so dad could get Vanzilla repaired."

The first born was finished packing her schoolbag and began texting her boyfriend Bobby about being grounded from her phone before she handed it over to Rita.

Later that night, the children were all sound asleep while the parents who managed to snag the TV an hour before were finished watching an eighties sitcom. After Rita turned off the television, she turned to her husband and said, "Honey, I think we should do something so that Lincoln doesn't pull something like this again."

"But the girls aren't complaining about going to each other's events, they were right, Lincoln needed to learn a lesson so he doesn't brush off his sisters next time. I understand about wanting free time but sometimes a person has to give that up to support their family," Lynn Sr. insisted.

"Honey three Saturdays ago, he assisted Luan with two birthday parties and that morning LJ had a basketball game, all the girls have to do is attend each other's events and perform at theirs while Lincoln is Luan's assistant and sometimes Lola's pageant coach," Rita explained.

Lynn Sr. sighed, before he replied, "All right I see your point, let's deal with it another time."

Monday morning the children woke up at their usual six thirty, their parents having gotten up twenty minutes earlier. Luckily, Lincoln managed to be the first child in the bathroom since he fell asleep earlier than his sisters last night. At breakfast, Lincoln ate his usual breakfast burrito. The ham and cheese sandwiches Rita made yesterday were on the table for the children to take for lunch. As Lori drove her siblings to school, Lincoln remained silent during the entire ride. To his relief, the sisters weren't acting rowdy and Luna had her earphone plugged into her ears listening to music.

Upon his arrival at RWES, Lincoln approached his best friend Clyde who just returned from a four day visit to his sick Aunt Sunday night.

"Hi Clyde," he greeted.

"Hi Lincoln," Clyde replied, then the friends bumped fists together.

Clyde asked, "So how are you and your family?"

Lincoln simply responded, "The same as always."

The two boys shoved their backpacks into their lockers after removing whatever they needed for class. Suddenly the first bell rang so they hurried off to Mrs. Johnson's class.

Lunchtime for the fifth graders eventually rolled around and Lincoln, Clyde along with their friends known as the "red headed trio" were seated at their usual table. Before Lincoln could take a third bite from his sandwich Rusty asked him, "How was your weekend Lincoln?"

Deciding to not mention what really happened Lincoln replied, "Nothing much, I went to the beach with my family and attended one of Lynn's baseball games."

"By the way Clyde how is your Aunt" "Liam asked

"She's back on her feet now," Clyde responded.

After a few moments of silence passed, Lincoln asked, "How about we play some Muscle Fish at your place after school Clyde."

"Okay Lincoln but only for an hour," Clyde replied.

####################################################################################

Lincoln and Clyde thankfully threw their backpacks down next to the couch in the McBride's living room.

"I'm so glad we didn't get a lot of homework," Clyde said.

His best friend of six years sighed replied in an apathetic tone, "Yeah," that made Clyde take notice.

Lincoln decided to reveal the whole truth to his friend.

"Clyde, I didn't come over to play Muscle Fish, I just wanted to talk about what really happened these last few days. Remember all of those events my sisters had, well after a while I wanted a break from going to one event after another so when Lynn asked me to attend a baseball game of hers I told her I'd rather stay home because I had something important to do."

"That's a reasonable request," Clyde replied.

"Not for Lynn, she asked me, "Are you sure you won't consider?" the next thing she did was threaten me with her bat by tapping it repeatedly in the palm of her hand," Lincoln replied.

Clyde eyes widened behind his eyeglasses in disbelief, "Really," Clyde managed to utter, Lincoln gave a curt nod then continued.

"Then after her team lost she accused me of being bad luck because I never attended any of her games before and banned me from coming to all future games. Later Leni and Lori wanted me to attend their charity fashion show and golf tournament respectively but Lynn insisted I was bad luck so I decided to play along."

"So did it work," Clyde queried curiously

"Like a charm," Lincoln admitted truthfully, "Then my parents started to believe Lynn's claim so I didn't have to attend any more events. On Saturday night they boarded up my room with a note stuck to the door saying I couldn't sleep there. Lynn had another game Sunday morning so I decided to sneak into the game wearing a squirrel mascot costume to prove I wasn't unlucky and her team actually won. When I removed the head of the costume everyone suddenly thought I was good luck after all, but only when I wore the costume so they said I had to wear it on the beach. When two beach officers saw me wearing the costume they took me to their office where my family was summoned over the intercom to come to see them that's when mom revealed everyone knew I was lying about being bad luck and were just teaching me a lesson. Mom was going to let me take off the costume after we spent twelve minutes at the beach. Anyway that's what happened to me."

"Well I'm so glad you didn't get sunburned, Lincoln, let's drink some lemonade then do our homework," Clyde suggested.

Tuesday

It was one p.m. and Bernard "Bud" Grouse was stepping outside to make a trip to the supermarket to buy groceries when he noticed a police car parked in front of his house and a female police officer walking towards him.

"Could I have a moment with you Sir?" she spoke cordially.

Mr. Grouse waited until she stopped a few inches away from him.

"The names Bud Grouse, what can I do for you, Officer?" he asked.

Hello, I'm Officer Emily Madison, I'd like you to answer a few questions about your neighbors the Louds?"

Officer Madison removed a pencil and notepad from her left front pocket and began, "What kind of neighbors are they?"

"I can tell you, those girls have absolutely no discipline. There's Luna who cranks that guitar of hers up so loudly she interrupts my naps sometimes. I had to replant some flowers three weeks ago because the twin girl who wears pink ran over them with her toy car. I had a talk with the mother about it but she didn't seemed too concerned, and there's the explosions coming over the house at least once a week," Mr. Grouse explained in detail.

"Explosions," Officer Madison queried.

"You see one of the girls, Lisa is a child genius who conducts experiments and sometimes they explode, I've wondered why Rita and Lynn Sr. would allow a four year old to handle dangerous chemicals."

Officer Madison's eyes widened in disbelief, "She's only four."

"Yes she also has a vocabulary bigger than mine. They also make enough of a racket every Saturday like clockwork and I sometimes see the infant outside wearing nothing but a diaper most of the time, and I see the other twin constantly digging in garbage cans looking for food," Mr. Grouse said.

"_These sound like instances of child neglect," she thought._

"I'm really here to talk about their son Lincoln," Officer Madison continued, "Did you see him wearing a squirrel mascot costume on Sunday?

Mr. Grouse shook his head, then replied, "I was away for the weekend visiting my brother, I just returned yesterday afternoon."

"I'm asking because I received a call this morning from a Ms. Katherine Ventura an employee at the Royal Woods Beach that she saw Lincoln wearing a squirrel costume on the beach and she and her partner became concerned about him getting a heat stroke. They took him inside the security office and gave him water to drink, then she made an announcement on the intercom for the family to visit the security office. His mother explained he was being taught some lesson about lying," Officer Madison said.

"Well the whole family are a bit eccentric," Mr. Grouse responded.

Officer Madison had written everything the elderly man relayed to her, then asked, "Could I get your phone number?"

She closed the notepad after writing down his phone number then said, "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Grouse."

"It's my pleasure," he responded smiling.

When Officer Madison returned to the police station, before typing her report about what Mr. Grouse told her, she looked through a folder on her desk and found the number of the local CPS office then dialed the number.


	5. Chapter 5

Later Mr. Grouse returned from his trip to the supermarket to purchase a few items. As the elderly man stepped out of his car, he looked over at the Loud residence then at the time on his digital watch.

"Just an hour left before those noisemakers come home, better enjoy the quiet while I can," he thought.

After unpacking the twenty items he bought, Mr. Grouse went upstairs to lay down for a short nap before making dinner for himself.

That afternoon Lincoln walked home from school alone because Clyde had an appointment with his therapist Dr. Lopez. His father Howard picked Clyde up ten minutes before the last bell. As Lincoln walked up the pathway to his home, the eleven year old glanced at the toys belonging to his younger sisters scattered on the lawn and shook his head.

"I wonder why mom and dad don't make them pick up after themselves?" he thought.

Surprisingly his sisters weren't creating the usual noise they were notorious for making but Lincoln wasn't startled by the silence. It depended on which sibling stayed behind after school for an extracurricular activity or detention. Getting detentions were rare amongst the siblings.

Leni was drinking one of her after school smoothies she made in her bedroom while Lisa was giving Luna a tutoring lesson in algebra at the dining table and Lana and Lola were doing their homework in their bedroom at the table Lola used for her tea parties. Lincoln opened the door and spotted Lucy the only sister parked on the couch watching TV.

"Afternoon Lucy," he greeted, which made Lucy turn her face in her brother's direction.

"Hey Lincoln," the eight year old girl responded.

He hurried upstairs to his bedroom, deposited his blue school bag in a disorderly mess beside the bed then drank the rest of the strawberry Flippee he bought at Flip's before heading home. Afterwards Lincoln started on his English homework then tackled some Math problems assigned by Mrs. Johnson. Just as he finished solving the last Math problem, there came a soft knocking on his bedroom door. He immediately thought the sister who knocked probably took his complaints on Sunday evening about barging into his room to heart.

"Come in," Lincoln answered.

In stepped his Goth sister Lucy through the door. She gave a small smile to Lincoln and began speaking.

"From yesterday, I haven't stopped thinking about what you said on Sunday night. I would like to say I'm sorry about ganging up on you with the others instead of telling them to stop."

"That's okay you know how they are, they'll probably accuse me of showing favoritism toward you," Lincoln replied.

A moments silence passed between the siblings before Lucy continued speaking.

"Lincoln the reason I knocked is because I'm making an attempt to not scare people anymore. I'm also going to stop depending on you to help me with my poetry all the time."

"Lucy you don't have to stop asking me, all I'm asking is for some respect," Lincoln replied.

"I understand Lincoln since both of us get walked all over, Lynn's always putting her sports equipment into my coffin and calls me Miss Doom and Gloom, anyway I have homework to do," Lucy said.

Once Lucy closed the door behind her Lincoln decided to play a video game for an hour.

That evening Lynn Sr. had prepared baked chicken with mashed potatoes and green peas for dinner. Dessert was a marble pound cake bought at the supermarket by Rita.

Immediately dessert was eaten everyone placed their used dinnerware into the kitchen sink then Lori wiped down the dining table with Lysol wipes.

"I wonder who could that be," Rita remarked when the doorbell suddenly rang. Rushing towards the front door Rita peeped through the keyhole and noticed a petite African American female wearing a name tag and holding a clipboard in her left hand standing outside.

"Who is it?" Lynn Sr. queried while standing a few inches behind his wife.

"I don't know, she looks like she's going to conduct a survey," his wife responded.

With curiosity Rita unlocked the door then greeted the woman, "Hello, I'm Rita Loud," then smiled.

The petite lady introduced herself, "Good evening, I'm Maya Perkins from the Child Protective Services, may I come in?"

The parents felt a little apprehension upon hearing the words Child Protective Services but managed not to show their nervousness. In a flash the children appeared beside their father with Lori holding Lily

Once the social worker entered the house she stood before Lynn Sr. whose heart was beating a little faster than normal.

"You must be Lynn Sr." Maya asked pleasantly.

"Yes I am, pleased to meet you Ms. Perkins," Lynn Sr. replied.

Maya nodded curtly then addressed the children, "Hello children how are you today?"

"We're fine thank you," Lincoln replied.

Lori spoke first, "Ms. Perkins I'm Lori the oldest and this is Lily."

Mayas face lit up then remarked, "She's a sweetheart."

After Leni introduced herself, Luna then Lincoln were next, followed by the other girls introducing themselves in birth order.

"Its nice meeting all of you, but now I'd like to take a look around," Maya told the parents.

"Sure Ms. Perkins," Rita replied.

Maya went straight towards the kitchen area whereupon she noticed the basement, but discovered no baby gate at the top of the basement stairs.

"_There's no safety gate at the basement stairs,"_ she wrote quickly on her notepad.

Maya saw the children sitting on the couch with Lori sitting on the small armchair watching Lily play with some blocks at her feet. Maya continued on upstairs but stopped briefly when she was almost at the last step upon noticing there wasn't a safety gate either.

"_No baby gate at top of the stairs either," _she wrote.

The first bedroom door Maya opened was Lisa's. She became alarmed upon noticing a table with beakers and bottles holding chemicals standing near to Lily's crib.

"_Four year old child is allowed to handle dangerous chemicals that are on a table next to the baby's crib," _Maya jotted down.

Next Maya opened the door to Lincoln's bedroom and became astonished at the size of the room.

"_This was apparently a closet once so they turned it into a bedroom for the boy," Maya thought._

She took notice of the Ace Savvy poster, Lincoln's laptop and glanced upwards and saw the model planes hanging from the ceiling.

"I don't see anything wrong just a typical boy's room," Maya said out loud.

After leaving Lincoln's closet turned bedroom, Maya entered Lana and Lola's bedroom next and almost jumped out of her skin upon noticing three glass cases. One contained a few small reptiles and Lana's pet rat Bitey and Hops were sleeping in the other two separately. Maya glanced over to Lola's side and marveled at how organized it appeared. Then she noticed Lola's pageant portraits hanging on the wall.

"This one does pageants," Maya wondered, then looked back over to Lana's side.

"_There's many different kinds of animals including a frog, a few reptiles including a snake and a rat in glass cases in the twins bedroom," _Maya scribbled on her notepad.

After she left, she entered Lucy and Lynn Jr. bedroom next and became shocked upon seeing Lucy's coffin. She turned over a new page of her notepad and wrote, _"One of the children owns a coffin, I'm surprised the parents allow it."_

"This side looks normal," Maya uttered, referring to Lynn Jr. side of the bedroom.

She entered Luan and Luna's bedroom next but didn't find anything unsettling so her next destination was Lori and Leni's bedroom.

"Just a typical teenage girl's room," Maya said before walking out.

Back downstairs Rita and Lynn Sr. waited anxiously for Maya's return in the dining room where they've been sitting all this time. They turned their heads upon hearing Mayas footsteps approaching.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud I've noticed they're no safety gates anywhere in the house," she asked rather calmly.

"You see we've never installed safety gates for our kids because we believe if kids have survived for many centuries without them, they aren't necessary," Lynn Sr. explained.

"We just keep an eye on Lily and tell the others to do the same," Rita added

"But do you make your younger kids buckle up when they're travelling in the car?" Maya asked.

"Yes we do," Rita told her.

Maya decided it wasn't necessary to mention the coffin in Lucy's room or Lana's unusual pets or Lisa's chemicals because she's seen enough.

"That's all for today Mr. and Mrs. Loud it was a pleasure meeting you," Maya said.

"It was nice meeting you Ms. Perkins," Rita replied back.

She followed the parents back towards the living room and waved goodbye to the children before leaving.

Outside, Maya wrote one final sentence on her notepad.

"_Inspection of the Loud house is finished. I recommend temporary removal of the children except the four older girls until further notice."_


	6. Chapter 6

Lori, Luna, and Lynn Jr. started washing the dishes and pots used by Lynn Sr. By this time Lily stopped playing with her building blocks and was amongst Luan, Lucy, Lana and Lola on the couch watching a new children's show called _Becky, Vicky, Mickey, and Sean_ on TV while Leni sat in the armchair filing her nails. Lisa was occupied in her bedroom writing a lecture for the University class she taught every Wednesday. Rita approached the couch and smiled at Lily.

"It's time for your bath sweetie then its bedtime," she cooed softly then scooped the infant in her arms. After bathing Lily in the bathroom sink, Rita entered the bedroom Lisa and Lily shared.

Once Rita placed Lily into her crib she addressed Lisa, "Lisa sweetie I know you have your lecture to prepare but I have an important matter to discuss with you."

Wordlessly Lisa and Rita walked through the door. Stopping briefly at Lincoln's bedroom Rita peeped through the door and noticed him sitting in front of his laptop watching MyTV videos. She knocked slightly and Lincoln turned around.

"Lincoln could you come downstairs, I have something important to talk about," she asked

When Lincoln and Rita arrived downstairs, Leni shifted slightly in the armchair for her brother to sit next to her.

Rita then asked the girls washing dishes, "Girls, leave the dishes for a while I'd like to speak with you."

With every child settled in the living room, Rita and Lynn Sr stood before them looking solemn.

Lincoln's words on Sunday evening regarding his sisters being allowed to behave however they wanted had been on Rita's mind since that day so she decided to make some changes.

"This afternoon I downloaded your report cards and progress reports from your teachers," then Rita paused a little, "Lincoln and Lucy, your reports are excellent but for the rest of you I'm very disappointed. Luan on your progress report all your teachers complained about you disrupting class by making puns constantly and Lori I can't believe you received a D in Biology I thought you were acing that class. LJ your Social Studies teacher wrote that you won't stop gazing out the window and you're constantly turning in incomplete assignments. Luna your History teacher Mr. Malachi wrote you won't stop whistling tunes in class and you received a D-."

Every girl except Lisa began showing signs of apprehension.

"If Lisa is tutoring all of you there's no reason why you're receiving these kinds of grades and I know what's to blame," Rita declared.

"What is to blame mom?" Luna asked curiously.

"Your extracurricular activities and events you participate in and practice for are preventing you from spending sufficient time on your schoolwork when you're not in school," Lynn Sr. replied.

"But we cannot help having so many events," Leni whined.

Rita crossed her arms and gave her daughters stern looks, "Girls I have no choice but to start putting my foot down. For the next two months, you're taking a break from all extracurricular activities and pageants, concerts, rodeos, and every other thing. You'll be paying more attention to your schoolwork until your grades improve."

Instantly a round of protests and groans sprang from the sisters lips except Lucy and Lisa.

"But what about my pageant in three weeks," Lola protested

"And I have four birthday parties coming up," Luan complained.

"I really enjoy going to band practice," Luna added

"It's literally not fair," Lori protested.

Lynn Sr. startled everyone by giving a loud whistle.

"Also I'm cutting back on the amount of tutoring you receive from Lisa because you'll be spending more time studying on your own, you girls rely on Lisa too much," Rita said firmly.

Angry expressions crossed each and every one of the girl's faces except Lucy and Lisa.

"Lisa will only tutor one person on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Rita continued.

"And Lana even though the alligators are defanged and declawed, you won't be allowed to do any more alligator wrestling," Lynn Sr. announced.

"That's not fair," Lana proclaimed.

"From today, you're allowed an hour of TV on school nights and you'll be tackling your homework immediately after you've eaten your afternoon snack. To make sure you take this seriously, I'm asking Pop-Pop if he can come over on Monday and Tuesday afternoons to supervise you and Aunt Ruth to come Wednesday to Thursday afternoons," Rita continued, "This is to ensure your grades improve."

"So Luan you just have to call those clients and cancel…" Lynn Sr. began but the doorbell ringing interrupted him.

"Lori see who's at the door," Rita asked. The teenager walked casually to the front door and peeped through the keyhole and to her surprise two police officers were standing there, one of them Officer Madison who spoke to Mr. Grouse that afternoon.

Lori turned around sharply, her heart beating a little faster and replied in a whisper, "It's the police mom."

Suddenly Lynn Sr. came to the realization Katie or Josh probably called the police regarding Lincoln wearing the mascot costume on the beach. He became alarmed and uttered, "Oh no those officers at the beach must have thought we were abusing Lincoln and called them."

"It could be something else," Lori told him before unlocking the door.

Lynn Sr. rushed forward and greeted them in the most pleasant voice he could muster, "Good evening Officers I'm Lynn Sr. how can I help you."

"Good evening Sir, I'm Detective Bryant Riley and this is Officer Emily Madison," the male officer said.

"Lynn Sr. we'd like to ask you and your wife and son some questions," Officer Madison spoke in a crisp tone of voice, "We're here to investigate a case of child abuse and neglect."

Lynn Sr. allowed them entrance into the house where both officers took notice of their surroundings. Officer Madison spotted the photographs of the Loud children hung on the staircase wall and became taken aback upon seeing eleven photos.

"_How do they support eleven children?'' she thought._

"We can talk in the dining room," Rita suggested.

The sisters became frightened at the police officers presence but remained silent.

The four adults and Lincoln took seats near each other at the table. Detective Riley wasted no time speaking to the parents.

"This morning we received a call from a Ms. Katherine Ventura, a security officer who works at the Royal Woods Beach," the Detective began.

"_I knew it," Rita thought_

"She reported seeing your son dressed as a squirrel mascot at the beach during extremely hot weather am I correct?" Detective Riley queried.

Lynn Sr. released a sigh, then replied, "That's true Detective, you see my wife and I were merely teaching our son a lesson about lying just to avoid going to his sister's events. We attended a baseball game of our daughter Lynn but when her team lost she accused him of bringing bad luck because he hadn't attended any of her games for months. When Lynn started telling our other daughters he shouldn't attend their events because of his bad luck Lincoln decided to play along," Rita explained.

"Is that true Lincoln," Officer Madison asked gently.

Lincoln nodded and explained, "Officer almost every day for five weeks, I had to support my sisters by attending all of their events and that prevented me from having any free time. I'm also my sister Luan's assistant at birthday parties so when Lynn told my other sisters I was bad luck I played along so I could get the free time I wanted and it worked."

"But when I overheard him insisting he was bad luck something told me he was pretending because he sounded too eager to stay home and not support his sisters, so Lynn Senior and I decided to play along and told him he couldn't come to the movies with the family. Then he turned up at Lynn's game on Sunday wearing the costume. When her team won, he revealed himself while we all congratulated Lynn and told us wearing the costume proved he was good luck but then we decided to go a little further by telling him he will bring good luck if he wore the costume to the beach. We intended Lincoln to wear it for twelve minutes before asking him to remove it then tell him we knew he was lying all along and were just teaching him a lesson," Rita said.

The two officer's sported neutral expressions on their faces which made the parents wondered what they were thinking.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud could you both stand up?" Detective Riley asked solemnly.

As they obeyed him, Officer Madison grabbed Rita's arms behind her back and Detective Riley did the same to Lynn Sr.

"You are both under arrest for child endangerment and neglect. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," Detective Riley declared.

"Please could you do this without the handcuffs," Rita pleaded with him before the officers could remove handcuffs from their utility belts.

Suddenly a chorus of "NOOOO," came from the sisters who rushed into the dining room after overhearing the Officers arresting their parents.

Lana, Lola and Lisa began bawling their eyes out then huddled around Luna for comfort. As the fifteen year old wrapped her arms around her younger sisters, she sported a serious expression on her face. Meanwhile Lincoln stood rooted to the spot dumbfounded.

"DON"T TAKE MOMMY AND DADDY TO JAIL," Lola wailed.

"They didn't do anything wrong," Leni whined.

"Making your brother stand in extreme heat in a mascot suit is child endangerment," the Detective told her briskly.

"Lori Call Pop-Pop and Ruthie," Rita said frantically, "There's emergency money in the red tin on top of the refrigerator use it for groceries and Lisa remember to pay the bills."

"Let's go," Detective Riley said sternly. As the Officers led their parents towards the front door the distraught kids hurried behind them.

Once Luna closed the front door, Lori began dialing Pop-Pop on the land line phone while the others sat down dejectedly in the living room.


	7. Chapter 7

"But we were just teaching our son a lesson, we didn't mean any harm," Lynn Sr. protested as he and Rita were led towards the squad car by the Officers.

"Mr. Loud, I have two grown sons and I would never have done something that extreme to punish them," Detective Riley chastised him.

Meanwhile Mr. Grouse wasn't aware of the police presence at the Louds since he had retired to bed the moment they arrived.

Inside the house, Lori waited impatiently for Pop-Pop to answer his telephone. At the moment the grandfather who resided at a senior center was heading upstairs after spending two hours in the recreation room playing chess with his friends.

"I'm coming," he grumbled upon hearing the phone ring as he stepped inside his bedroom. He picked up the phone on the ninth ring. Pop-Pop never got the chance to say Hello because Lori began speaking in a frantic tone.

"It's Lori Pop-Pop, mom and dad have been arrested for child abuse, you have to come over," Lori pleaded.

The grandfather of eleven was left dumbstruck for two seconds then shouted, "What in tarnation!" making Lori hold the receiver slightly away from her right ear.

"We were just teaching Lincoln a lesson about lying and it got out of hand," Lori said.

"It's going to take a few minutes for me to pack a few items but you have to pick me up, it's getting dark soon and I cannot drive because of my night blindness," he replied.

"All right Pop-Pop, be there soon," Lori said before hanging up.

The other children perked up a little when Lori approached them.

"Pop-Pop says I have to pick him up because he cannot drive at night due to his night blindness. Luan and Lynn you finish the dishes," Lori told everyone.

"You expect us to wash dishes," Luan protested.

Luna who kept silent all this while spoke, "I'll do it."

"And I'll help," Lucy offered wanting to occupy herself with something to get her mind off her parents getting arrested.

Lori sped upstairs into her room to grab her handbag and key ring containing her house key and her key for Vanzilla. Back downstairs, Lori dashed into the master bedroom and searched Rita's bedside drawer searching for her phone Rita confiscated and found it, then issued more instructions to her siblings.

"Leni could you call Aunt Ruth, Lana, Lola, and Lisa please go to bed before I get back," Lori ordered.

"But we want to stay up for Pop-Pop," Lola began whining.

"NO buts Lola, we're going to school tomorrow," Lori said firmly and Lola began pouting.

Lori turned on her heels and made her departure. Leni looked up Aunt Ruth's phone number on her cell phone and started dialing.

Everyone waited patiently while Ruthie's telephone rang and rang but after ringing fifteen times Leni became frustrated.

"Aunt Ruth's not picking up," Leni remarked.

"It's probably her bedtime, we'll just call her tomorrow morning," Lincoln said.

Silence reigned once more for another three minutes as the children continued sitting in the living room.

"I can't believe it they got arrested," Luan muttered unhappily

"Don't worry they will probably just be detained overnight," Lisa reassured everyone.

Suddenly Lola started glaring daggers towards Lynn Jr. and pointed an accusing finger at the teenager. "Lynn's this is all your fault. If you didn't threaten Lincoln to come to your game with your baseball bat mom and dad wouldn't get arrested," Lola shouted angrily.

Lana joined in, "Yeah then he would have stayed home and you wouldn't have accused him of bad luck when your team lost."

"Then he would have attended my pageant and Leni's fashion show and Lori's tournament," Lola added.

"Well it's wasn't fair that Stinkcoln was going to your dumb things and not my baseball games, "Lynn Jr. replied smugly.

"So you had to threaten him with your bat," Luan spat, glaring at her sister.

"Well it's his duty to attend our stuff," Lynn stated nonchalantly.

Lynn's last statement infuriated Lincoln prompting him to lash out at the jock and Luna was speechless. "Excuse me, Lynn, MY DUTY!" Lincoln spat furiously, "So you think I should always be available at everyone's beck and call."

Lynn Jr. replied nastily, "Yes instead of sitting in your bedroom reading comics and playing those lame video games," then glared at Lincoln.

"And if you think I care about your little speech Sunday night you're sadly mistaken, I'm gonna do whatever I want even Dutch oven you or attack you with Luche Libre wrestling moves whenever I want," Lynn Jr. declared angrily.

"NO YOU WON'T," Lincoln shouted furiously.

Then the athlete leapt from her seat and marched over to her brother sitting in the armchair but somehow Lincoln wasn't scared.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Lynn Jr. dared then poked a finger in his chest which made Lincoln irritated.

"That's it," he shouted angrily then shoved Lynn on her right shoulder then suddenly...

"STOP!" Leni screamed.

"Really Lynn, our parents are sitting in jail and you want to fight Lincoln," Leni said angrily.

"Yes bra what is wrong with you," Luna declared.

"Go ahead and defend him," Lynn spat, "I'm going to finish my homework," before stomping up the stairs.

"Come Lucy lets finish the dishes," Luna told the Goth. The other girls began to disperse upstairs leaving Lincoln alone for a few seconds until he went upstairs to pack his school bag and get into his pajamas.

Upon arriving at Sunset Canyon, Lori parked Vanzilla in front and rang the doorbell which was answered by Pop-Pop who waited for her in the lobby. Without a word, he embraced his oldest grandchild.

"How are you holding up Lori," he asked after breaking the hug.

"Well I'm a bit frazzled," she admitted.

Pop-Pop grabbed a packed duffel bag at his feet then commanded, "Let's go."

Lori drove to the police station first. They approached the front desk after getting their bags searched and going through a metal detector.

"Good evening Officer, my name is Albert and this is my granddaughter Lori," Pop-Pop began.

"We're here to see my parents Rita and Lynn Loud Sr. who were arrested," Lori added.

The Officer idly looked inside a notebook then replied, "Yes Sir they were booked a while ago, please have a seat," he responded.

Three anxious minutes passed before Detective Riley appeared.

"Hello Detective Riley," Lori said.

Albert rose from his chair and said, "I'm Albert, Rita's father, can I see my daughter and son in law."

"Yes," the Detective replied.

Lori and Albert followed him and Lori released a gasp seeing her parents seated in the same cell looking quite dejected. Rita's eyes were a little red from crying a few minutes ago.

The parents rushed towards the cell bars with gratitude upon Lori and Albert's arrival.

"Dad, Lori you're here," Rita cried in relief.

"Hello Albert, Lori," Lynn Sr. said but in a defeated tone.

"What's this I heard about you abusing Lincoln?" Albert suddenly blurted out in anger.

The parents glanced at each other resignedly.

"When LJ's baseball team lost a game she accused him of being a junx because of it and banned him from attending other games. I overheard him agreeing with her he was bad luck when the others invited him to their events but I figured he was lying to avoid attending their events. We decided to teach him a lesson after we informed the girls Lincoln was pretending to be unlucky by making him eat alone, boarding up his room and having him sleep on the back porch. Then he snuck into another game of LJ's wearing a mascot costume. When her team won Lincoln told us wearing it brought good luck so we made him wear it at the beach on Sunday as a good luck charm," Rita explained.

"But we never made him wear it for long," Lori added.

Albert knitted his brow then said with total disappointment, "I can't believe this, you made him sleep on the porch and convinced him to wear some mascot costume on a hot beach just for lying. Rita if your mother was alive to see this she'd be devastated."

Rita looked away from her father then Detective Riley declared, "It's time to go,"

"What about bail Detective?" Albert asked.

"We have set a hearing for Friday morning at ten a.m. at the courthouse," Detective Riley replied.

"Bye mom bye dad," Lori said sadly.

Albert and Lori arrived at the Loud residence after the other Loud kids fell asleep. Lori told him, "You can sleep in mom and dad's room."

Albert gratefully dropped onto the queen sized once he set down his duffel bag.

The next morning everyone woke up to the sounds of their alarms. Reluctantly the children dragged themselves out of bed and formed the usual line in front of the bathroom. Minutes later the children all dressed and sat at the dining table in a halfhearted mood having scrambled eggs and breakfast sausages Pop-Pop prepared.

When they finished eating they brushed their teeth and piled into the family van with Lori at the wheel. Only Lisa stayed behind because a colleague always picked her up the days she lectured at the University. Naturally Lily was staying home with her grandfather instead of going to the day care center Rita's boss paid for.

As Lori started driving, Lola began complaining, "Why do we have to go to school? Can't we just get homeschooled like me during pageant season until mom and dad are released?"

"Because we have to keep up appearances, just don't allow anyone at school to know," Lori declared. Nobody else spoke for the remainder of the ride until Lori stopped at the elementary school first.

"Bye Lori," Lincoln said as cheerily as possible while the others still reluctant to attend school kept silent.

During the entire school day Lincoln acted like everything was going fine. During lunchtime Clyde mentioned going to Gus on Friday after school but Lincoln lied, "Sorry Clyde I have to attend a roller derby game of Lynn's."

School ended an hour ago and the children were occupied doing homework at the dining room table at Albert's insistence when the doorbell rang.

To Albert's surprise, three persons including Ms. Perkins and a blonde man wearing a CPS badge were standing on the porch.

"Hello I'm Albert, how can I help you?" he greeted pleasantly

"I'm Maya Perkins from Children's Protective Services Sir, we're here to remove seven of your grandkids from the premises," Maya stated bluntly.


	8. Chapter 8

The children's grandfather eyes opened wide in total shock then uttered, "Why?" in disbelief.

He decided to invite them inside. "Come in," he suggested

Once the CPS workers stepped through the door the children appeared beside Pop-Pop.

"We received a call from the police Monday about possible child abuse committed by your grandchildren's parents I came here yesterday to investigate and found them living in conditions unsuitable for children.

For instance, there's no safety gates for the infant, there's chemicals near the baby's crib, one of your granddaughters owns reptiles including large snakes that could get into the baby's crib and strangle her or the other little girls, not to mention the toys scattered all over the yard. The police also said Mrs. Katherine Ventura a beach security officer called them about seeing the boy getting taught a lesson when he was forced to stand in the extremely hot sun wearing a squirrel costume at the beach Sunday afternoon by his family," Ms. Perkins stated bluntly

"Oh come on surely these situations can be fixed instead of taking these kids away, my daughter and son in law are loving parents," Albert pleaded.

"My grandfather's right," Lori declared, "We can move Lana's reptiles into the basement," to which Lana nodded in agreement.

"We'll also clean up the front lawn," Lincoln added.

"In regards to Lily's safety, I wouldn't have the resources to buy a safety gate but we'll figure out a way to protect her from the stairs and basement," the grandfather added.

"We'll accept that," William spoke and Maya gave her consent by nodding a little.

"Lisa since I'm acting in loco parentis, I'll call the University and ask them to release you from experimenting with chemicals until you're older," Albert told Lisa.

Lisa became horrified hearing those words and pleaded, "No Pop-Pop, you can't possibly be serious."

"Lisa I'm in charge while your parents aren't here," he said firmly.

Suddenly the male worker named William asked, "Where are the parents?"

A nervous pause lingered in the air then Albert responded, "They were arrested regarding the beach incident yesterday."

There wasn't any reaction to the news from the CPS workers then Lori asked worriedly, "I hope this doesn't mean you're still going to take my younger siblings away."

Instantly Maya began showing some sympathy towards the Loud children and replied, "All right we're letting them stay but we'll be back on Monday evening to ensure those changes were made."

Albert and his grandkids were filled with gratitude and almost cheered.

"I assure you Ms. Perkins, we will ensure these changes are made," Albert said, determined to keep his grandkids together.

"Good day to you all then," Maya said.

"Enjoy the rest of the day," William added before their departure.

Lori rested her back on the door once she closed it behind them and breathed a dramatic sigh of relief. Suddenly the eleven children gathered around Pop-Pop and embraced him with tears of gratitude.

"Thanks Pop-Pop, without you those mean people would have taken us," Lana cried. The embrace lasted almost three minutes until they dispersed and returned to their homework. They cleared the front lawn of the scattered toys and Lynn Jr. moved the bikes outside into the garage before dinner. Lisa grudgingly gave Albert the phone number of the Institute. After dinner, Lincoln found a large plastic bin with a cover in the attic and helped Lynn Jr. and Albert place Lisa's chemicals inside then stored the bin in a corner of the basement. As for Lana's pet snakes, Albert decided she would be allowed to keep the nonvenomous snakes El Diablo and another. Surprisingly Lana accepted her grandfather's decision that she couldn't keep the additional snakes. The others were relocated in the basement then Albert would contact the animal shelter tomorrow and ask someone to remove them before Monday. Once the venomous snakes were situated in the basement Albert gathered the siblings in the living room.

"There is going to be a bail hearing on Friday at ten a.m. at the courthouse," he announced.

"What's a bail hearing?" Lana asked.

"A bail hearing is a court process in which a judge will determine whether to allow your parents to post bail to get released from jail," Albert explained.

"Hooray," Leni cheered while the other children smiled.

"Now all we have to do is let my sister Ruth know and convince her to help us post bail," Pop-Pop added.

Around ten that morning, Albert received a call from Dr. Feinstein, Rita's boss inquiring why she hadn't turned up for work or called the dentist's office to say she would be absent. Albert regretfully said Rita was arrested with her husband but wouldn't go into details when pressed by Dr. Feinstein then thirty minutes later Lynn Srs boss called and asked why he didn't come to work and Albert had to tell him about Lynn Sr. getting arrested with his wife. That evening Albert could only find sausages and baked beans so he made frank and beans for dinner.

"Lori and I would have to stop and buy some groceries on Friday afternoon," Albert thought at the time.

"I'm going to the station tomorrow morning. Leni could you pack some extra underwear and a clean shirt and blouse for your parents, I'm sure they would appreciate some clean clothes," Albert asked his second oldest granddaughter.

"Sure Pop-Pop," Leni replied then got two reusable grocery bags from a kitchen cupboard to put her parent's things in. Leni also found two novels for her parents to read.

Thursday morning when Albert arrived at the police station by taking a taxi he found Rita and Lynn Sr. watching the TV in their cell. The parent's mood had improved considerably. Every morning and night they were given sanitary wipes and allowed to freshen up separately in the bathroom and they received oatmeal and a cup of coffee for breakfast. At nighttime, they slept on the two benches situated in the cell with blankets and two pillows.

"Dad!" Rita shouted happily when he appeared before them with a police officer.

""Here's some clothing I had Leni pack," he said. Rita gratefully took the bags after the officer unlocked the cell door.

"Thanks Albert for taking care of the kids for us," Lynn Sr. told him

"It's my pleasure," Albert responded.

Even though he wasn't still pleased with the parent's actions Albert was concerned about their well-being.

"I have to return to the senior center and get my car, see you in court tomorrow," he told them.

"Bye Dad," Rita cried out and Lynn Sr. waved at Albert.

Once outside, Albert directed the taxi driver to drive to the senior center.

During dinnertime, Lori decided a sibling meeting was in order to discuss the issue of protecting Lily from the stairs and basement and other matters. "I'll also invite Pop-Pop to attend," she thought.

"May I have everyone's attention!" she called before anyone could leave the table after eating.

"There will be a sibling meeting in five minutes and Pop-Pop you're invited to attend," Lori announced.

Sibling meetings were considered vitally important to Lori, only being sick was considered an excuse not to attend.

After Lori started the proceedings by banging the shoe she used as a gavel on the dresser Lisa gave the minutes of the last meeting seven weeks ago. Albert was seated on the armchair.

"First I'd like to acknowledge Pop-Pop's presence at this meeting," Lori began.

"Welcome Pop-Pop," the other children chanted which made him smile warmly at his grandchildren.

"This meeting is called to discuss how to protect Lily. Any suggestions," Lori asked then Lisa raised her hand eagerly.

"Lisa you have the floor," Lori said.

Lisa cleared her throat before speaking, "I've perused the matter of safety gates on the Internet and found our local Arrow store has them selling from twelve to fourteen dollars. We'll go there Saturday and I'll buy the cheaper model from this month's family budget. I'm also suggesting everyone younger than Lynn should have their cell phone usage disconnected on a temporary basis since our parents are in jail and we need to tighten our belts since we have no clue if they're going to post bail."

"But some of us don't even wear belts," Leni interjected with her usual cluelessness.

"Tightening our belts mean we have to cut back on how we spend money," Luna explained.

Suddenly Lincoln slapped his right palm onto his forehead, realizing they had forgotten to re-contact Aunt Ruth and raised his hand.

"Lori I'm sorry but we forgot to call Aunt Ruth back when Leni couldn't get her to answer her telephone on Tuesday," Lincoln said regretfully.

Albert sighed, "Don't worry about it kiddo, I'll contact her tonight."

Lynn Jr then asked, "Lori, if mom and dad fail to make bail, does that mean you'll unground me."

"Nice try genius, your punishment remains in effect and don't try and rebel against it," Lori stated firmly.

"I also agree with Lisa bra, we have to spend less money," Luna added.

"True I'll just have to use my walkie talkie to speak with Clyde," Lincoln said.

Albert frowned with curiosity and asked Lynn, "LJ what were you grounded for?"

The unexpected question caused Lynn Jr. to become apprehensive. Realizing he would be displeased upon hearing the reason why Rita grounded her, she whispered, "Oh great."

"Go ahead Lynn," Lori almost snarled.

"Well I," Lynn began nervously, then uttered the next words a little slowly, "Lincoln refused to attend my baseball game that my team lost so I forced him to go by threatening him with my baseball bat."

Albert became infuriated instantly at his athletic granddaughter, his eyes narrowed a bit.

"WHAT, how could you do something so inexcusable to your brother Junior," Albert raged causing the teenage girl to lower her head.

"Then she had the nerve to label him bad luck when her team lost," Luan added bitterly.

Lynn Jr slowly raised her head and looked at Albert nervously.

"Pop-Pop, I was just annoyed that Lincoln refused to come to my game because he hadn't attended any of them for months," Lynn explained.

"That's no excuse to threaten Lincoln young lady and I'm glad your mom punished you for it, at least that's one good decision she made," Albert spat.

There was a moments silence in the room until Lori realizing she needed to tackle an important homework assignment said, "This meeting is now adjourned," then banged her 'gavel' on the dresser.


	9. Chapter 9

"Lincoln, Lana, Lola, Lucy, and Lisa would you hand over your phones before going to bed," Lori asked as the non-occupants of the room began heading towards the door. Luan and Lynn Jr. went downstairs since they were on kitchen duty. Albert retreated into the master bedroom and started calling his sister Ruth on his cell phone while Lincoln continued working on a Social Studies assignment he started before Lori called everyone down for dinner.

Aunt Ruth was two years younger than Albert and a former home health worker who retired five years ago when her last employer, a wealthy bachelor passed away. She was surprised to discover he left her a substantial sum of money in his will and a small vacation home in Huntington Oaks. It didn't take long for Albert to wait for Aunt Ruth to answer.

"Hello Ruthie, it's your brother Albert," he told Ruth.

She smiled before replying, "Hello Albert I haven't heard from you for quite a while."

"You see I have some news to tell you," her brother admitted.

Ruth became curious and immediately thought Rita had another bun in the oven, "Is Rita pregnant again?" she asked bluntly.

Albert replied, "No, you should probably sit down, Ruthie, Rita and Lynn Sr. got arrested for child abuse."

Aunt Ruth was speechless for just four seconds then blurted out, "Oh my goodness, what did they do?"

"Junior accused Lincoln of being bad luck when her team lost a baseball game. He started pretending to be bad luck just to avoid attending the other girl's events because he wanted some free time to himself," Albert explained

"It's no wonder the boy lied, Rita and Lynn dragging those kiddies around from one event to another would make anybody desperate for some free time," Ruth declared, having a clear understanding why Lincoln played along with the bad luck claims.

"Then Rita overheard him pretending and became suspicious so they teamed up with the girls to exclude Lincoln in various ways. He wound up wearing a squirrel costume at Junior's other game to prove he wasn't unlucky and when her team won, they convinced him to wear the costume for a trip to the beach as some good luck charm last Sunday," Albert continued.

Ruth released a gasp, "But I heard it was extremely hot that day, I thought they wouldn't be capable of abusing any of those kids."

Albert continued, "Anyway Ruthie there is a bail hearing set for tomorrow morning at ten so I'm asking if you could come with me."

Ruthie replied without hesitation, "I'll be there."

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at nine thirty. Between the two of us we could pay the bail money," Albert added.

Ruth sighed, "I'm afraid not much of my inheritance is left, I just hope it's not a lot of money."

"I really hope so, see you tomorrow then," Albert said.

"Bye Albert," Ruth replied.

Once Aunt Ruth placed the phone back on the receiver, she sighed then thought, "I don't have anything decent to wear tomorrow, might as well go to the mall," then grabbed her handbag and car keys.

When Lincoln finished his History assignment he decided to hand over his cell phone to Lori.

"Just leave it on my dresser Lincoln," Lori said through the closed door after he knocked. Upon entering he saw Lori working on her homework assignment. On the dresser he noticed the twins, Lisa, and Lucy's phones laying among the various cosmetics belonging to the two oldest girls. Lincoln placed the phone next to Lana's and exited the room quickly. He immediately called Clyde on his walkie talkie to keep his friend up to date.

"Hey Buddy what's up," Clyde greeted.

"Look Clyde I couldn't find the right time to tell you this but mom and dad were arrested Tuesday for making me wear the mascot costume on the beach," Lincoln said.

Clyde couldn't believe his ears, "Really," Clyde managed to utter

"But a bail hearing is set for tomorrow at ten a.m.," Lincoln added.

By this time Clyde's shock at the news of the arrest of his best friend's parents wore off. "Well I wish them good luck at the hearing," Clyde replied.

"And we just had a sibling meeting where Lisa discussed tightening our belts to save money and suggested that me, Lucy, her and the twins should give up using our phones temporarily so we'll have to use our walkie talkies at home," Lincoln said.

"I understand buddy," Clyde replied, "I have to go now Lincoln, Operation Dessert Storm is starting soon," Clyde said.

"Bye Buddy, over and out," Lincoln replied.

"Cripes I forgot about ODS," Lincoln muttered after speaking to Clyde then hurried downstairs and found himself the only person in the living room.

Friday morning the Loud siblings stood in the bathroom line, some expressing different thoughts what could happen at the bail hearing in a few hours.

"I hope they post bail," Lana said.

"We could ask Pop-Pop if we could stay home today," Lola suggested.

"Let's hope he says yes," Luan added.

Unfortunately when Luan asked him during breakfast, he responded curtly, "No."

Nobody spoke a word to each other on the ride to school. The twins gazed out the window thinking deeply about the possibility of seeing their parents when that afternoon. Luna's earphones were plugged into her ears and Lincoln who sat beside Luan became surprised when she removed her World History book from her bag and started reading it. Ever since Rita and Lynn Sr. were arrested there was a noticeable change among the girls. The last few days had been prank free and no petty squabbles or threats of violence occurred between the sisters and they were paying more attention towards schoolwork at home.

"Are you feeling alright Luan, you're reading a History Book on the way to school," he asked in amusement.

'It's because Ms. Marshall is giving a quiz today," Luan explained.

Meanwhile Lori was trying her best to concentrate on driving since her mind was occupied with the thought her parents wouldn't make bail. She had some difficulty falling asleep over worrying about the bail amount being too expensive to pay. She managed to drop the preteens and Lynn Jr. off at their respective schools before driving towards the High School.

It was 9:10 a.m. and Albert just finished taking a shower after shaving. He reached into Rita and Lynn Srs. closet and retrieved a jacket and a pair of pants he had the foresight to pack in his duffel bag. It took Albert four minutes to get dressed and brush his hair then checked himself in the dresser mirror to see if he looked presentable. Satisfied, Albert grabbed his car keys laying on Rita's nightstand and made his exit from the house. At exactly nine thirty he arrived at Ruth's home where she was actually standing outside. Years working in the home health profession had disciplined Ruth to always be punctual.

"Could that be a new outfit?" Albert thought astonished at the light blue long sleeved dress Ruth wore but she still wore her hair in a bun.

"Morning Albert," she said cordially after opening the front passenger door.

"Morning Ruthie," he replied before driving away.

The journey to the Royal Woods Courthouse took only fifteen minutes. Albert found a parking spot nearest the entrance of the two story building. Inside the courtroom, Albert and Ruth situated themselves in the second row on the right.

While waiting Ruth glanced over at Albert and noticed him looking solemn and whispered, "Everything is going to be fine, Albert."

At 9:55 a.m. Rita and Lynn Sr. arrived accompanied by two female jail guards. Aunt Ruth gasped upon seeing her niece looking somewhat drained. Rita only wore lip-gloss since Leni only packed one tube of lip-gloss with the items Albert handed them on Thursday and Lynn Sr. looked emotionless. As the couple walked towards the table on the left side facing the Judges podium Albert called out, "Rita!"

"Dad, Ruthie," Rita called out in relief, Lynn Sr. just smiled weakly at them.

"We'll get you out Rita I promise," Albert replied while the couple pulled out two chairs at the table then sat down. Two more minutes passed before the Judge entered the courtroom, who walked briskly with an air of authority.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Ingrid Callahan," the bailiff announced.

The four other adults obeyed and waited for the Judge to be seated before sitting back down.

The Judge perused some documents in front of her before speaking.

"Rita and Lynn Loud Sr. are you aware that your actions towards your son Lincoln is a serious offence?"

"Yes your Honor," they replied simultaneously, then Rita nervously gripped her husband's right hand.

"After careful consideration I'm hereby setting bail for a thousand dollars for each of the defendants," Judge Callahan declared.

The parents looked absolutely dismayed at the hefty sum of money.

Albert rose to his feet in disbelief and declared, "Your Honor, Ruth and I don't have two thousand dollars between us."

"Can't you lower the amount?" Ruth pleaded.

Suddenly a male voice came from the back of the courtroom, "I'll post their bail Your Honor,"

The man had quietly entered the courtroom while the Judge spoke to the parents and stood in the back.

Lynn Sr. instantly recognized who the voice belonged to.

He introduced himself while approaching the Judges podium, "I'm David Bancroft Lynn Sr. boss."

Mr. Bancroft pulled out a blank check from his wallet and rested it on the other table and scribbled the amount on then signed his name. Mr. Bancroft handed the check to the Judge.

"Thank you Mr. Bancroft," Judge Callahan said.

But what Judge Callahan said next shocked the parents, Albert and Aunt Ruth.

"You're free to go Mr. and Mrs. Loud but under one condition, you aren't allowed to be in close contact with your son meaning you cannot be alone with him or embrace him without another adult present."


	10. Chapter 10

A few moments of silence passed between the adults in the courtroom with the parents exchanging looks of astonishment until Lynn Sr. managed to find his voice.

"You can't be serious," he uttered.

"Mr. Loud, it's just a precaution to ensure both of you don't influence your son who could be called upon as a witness to his own abuse," the Judge declared.

"But we've never abused any of our kids," Rita replied in a slightly heated manner.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud anyone with common sense should know putting someone to wear a mascot suit in extremely hot weather even for a few minutes could cause a sunburn or a heat stroke. That day was so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk," Judge Callahan scolded the couple.

"Also the police report mentioned Lincoln's room was boarded up and you made him sleep on the back porch with only a pillow because of you believing he was bad luck," she added.

"But the porch is screened in and I gave him a pillow and a blanket," Rita pleaded.

"That's still defined as child abuse Mrs. Loud. Now before the trial begins, Lincoln can either stay with a relative or a friend or he can remain at home and one of your adult relatives can stay with you to make sure you're never alone with Lincoln," Judge Callahan declared.

"Excuse me, Your Honor," Albert interrupted.

Judge Callahan turned her attention towards him.

"I'm Albert, Rita's father. I'm currently staying with the children and taking care of them so I'm volunteering to stay in the house as long as possible," the grandfather said.

"Okay I'll grant it, court adjourned," she replied authoritatively, then banged her gavel on the podium.

The other adults remained standing while the Judge departed from the courtroom then Lynn Sr. turned to his boss.

"Thanks for posting our bail, Mr. Bancroft," Lynn Sr. replied gratefully, "But how did you know that we were arrested?"

"I telephoned you Wednesday morning to find out why you didn't turn up for work and your father in law answered the phone and informed me both of you were arrested so I called the police station and found out your bail hearing was today and decided on the spot to post your bail," Mr. Bancroft explained.

"Does this mean I'm still employed," Lynn Sr. asked with optimism evident in his tone.

"Yes Lynn but only until the trial, because if you are convicted you might be sentenced to one month or two or a year in prison and I cannot hold onto your position for that long but if you're found not guilty your fellow employees may find out you were arrested and tried for child abuse and be reluctant to work with you," Mr. Bancroft explained.

Lynn Sr. sadly nodded his head and replied, "I understand."

"I can't thank you enough David," Rita told his boss.

"It was no problem Rita. Lynn you can return to work on Monday, nice meeting you Rita," Mr. Bancroft said before leaving.

Rita walked over to her Aunt and hugged her. "I'm so glad you came Ruthie," she said.

"I wish it wasn't under these circumstances dear," the older woman replied then one of the female guards approached the group and said to Albert. "Mister you'll have to wait at the station to pick up Mr. and Mrs. Loud because they have to retrieve their belongings."

It didn't take Albert and Ruth long to wait outside the station for the couple. Making their way towards Albert's station wagon Rita declared to her husband, "It's going to be such a relief to get home and sleep in a real bed tonight."

Their nights sleeping on benches were a little uncomfortable and Lynn Seniors neck still remained somewhat stiff from the experience.

They climbed into the back seat of the car. As they buckled themselves in, Rita's thoughts immediately turned to her children.

"The kids will be very happy to see us," Rita thought.

As Albert started driving, Lynn Sr. asked his father in law, "How are the kids doing?" and Albert replied they were doing relatively well.

"I really hope there weren't any fights," Lynn Sr. added.

"No they've been well behaved and I make sure they do their homework," Albert replied.

Suddenly Rita's thoughts turned to Ruth. "Why don't you come home with us for some coffee and sandwiches Ruthie," Rita offered.

"No thanks Rita I have to get home to feed the cats," Ruth responded.

On the journey to Aunt Ruth's home Albert said, "I also found out something that shocked me. I was told you grounded Junior because she threatened Lincoln with her baseball bat to make him attend the game her team lost."

Aunt Ruth became surprised to say the least and muttered, "Really," under her breath

"Rita, it's all those sports she plays that is causing Junior's aggressive behavior," Ruth scolded with a disapproving manner.

"But Ruth we can't tell her to give up some of them," Lynn Sr. responded.

"More like you want her to keep winning more trophy's to brag about," Ruth thought cynically.

"There's other matters we have to discuss later," Albert added.

Rita replied, "Okay."

Meanwhile Lori sat in Biology class, but wasn't entirely concentrating on what her teacher was saying.

"The bail hearing is probably over by now," she thought, in another classroom Luan and her fellow classmates worked on their History quiz and Luna's class had physical education at the moment.

Eventually Albert dropped Ruth at her place then headed home after she told Rita and Lynn Sr. goodbye. Lynn Sr. couldn't resist smiling when their two story house came into view. After stepping out of the station wagon it took seconds for Rita and Lynn Sr. to notice the lawn wasn't littered with the girl's toys the parents never bothered telling them to pick up.

"Goodness dad how did you manage to get the girls to take in their belongings?" Rita asked in wonder as Albert unlocked the front door with his spare key.

"We'll discuss that after you get something to eat," Albert replied.

A sense of relief overcame the parents once they stepped inside the house for the first time in three days. They went upstairs to wash their hands while Albert began making sandwiches with sliced ham and lettuce he bought yesterday.

"Thanks Albert, the sandwich was delicious," Lynn Sr. told his father in law once everyone ate.

Albert decided not to waste one minute discussing the CPS workers visit so he picked up the empty plates and told the parents, "One moment."

He returned after putting the plates in the sink and began….

"On Wednesday afternoon two CPS workers came to visit," Albert said, causing Rita and Lynn Sr. to become frightened

"One of them, Ms. Perkins mentioned coming here Tuesday evening and finding no safety gates for Lily and that Lisa's chemicals were close to Lily's crib, she was also concerned about Lana's snakes getting into Lily's crib and strangling her or the other little girls, and mentioned the toys scattered over the yard. I had to step in to prevent them from taking Lincoln and the younger girls by offering to fix every problem they found with the children's help, "Albert explained.

"Thank God," Rita uttered with relief.

"Later Junior and Lincoln packed Lisa's chemicals into a plastic container which I labelled. Someone from the Institute arrived minutes after the kids left this morning and took them. I told Lana the poisonous snakes should go and the others live in the basement. Lisa and I am making a trip tomorrow to purchase a baby gate that she's paying for," Albert continued.

"Is anyone taking away the snakes?" Lynn Sr. asked

"The local wildlife shelter is coming tonight for them and the CPS workers are coming back on Monday to make sure everything was done," Albert replied.

"You're a real lifesaver Albert you know," Lynn Sr. replied beaming

"Thank you dad," Rita added, then stifled a yawn.

"Now what about Lincoln," Lynn Sr. asked.

"Hmm, I'll call Lori and tell her I'll pick up the younger ones after school and tell him about the situation," Albert suggested.

It was a free period class for Lori when she received her grandfather's call. She had to suppress screaming with joy once Albert informed her that Rita and Lynn Sr. made bail. Albert also explained her father's boss arrived later and paid the bail money.

"Another thing Lori could you just pick up your older sisters and Lily at the day care. I'll pick up the others at the elementary school," he asked.

"Will do Pop-Pop," she replied.

At the elementary school after the dismissal bell Lincoln and his younger sisters were surprised to see Albert standing outside next to the station wagon and shouted, "Pop-Pop," then ran over happily and hugged him tightly.

"Hey guess what, your parents made it home," Albert told them smiling broadly.

"Mommy's home!" Lola almost screamed while the others flashed joyful smiles.

Albert then asked his grandson, "Lincoln could you sit in the front?"

On the journey home, the girls remained excited about seeing their parents. Finally Albert's car pulled into the Loud's driveway and the girls practically leapt out the car after unbuckling their seatbelts but before Lincoln could follow suit Albert placed a gentle hand on his left shoulder.

"One moment kiddo, I have something important to tell you which affects you," Albert said.

Lincoln gazed at Pop-Pop curiously then responded, "What do you mean?"

The pensioner hesitated a little then cleared his throat.

"Because of the child abuse claims, the Judge said your parents aren't allowed to embrace you and you cannot even be alone with them without another adult present so I offered to stay and supervise them until the trial," Albert continued.

Lincoln stayed speechless for a moment then simply responded with a sad voice, "I understand Pop-Pop."


	11. Chapter 11

Lucy rang the doorbell while the other girls stood impatiently behind her waiting for either parent to open the door. Inside the house Lynn Sr. was starting dinner while Rita who took a nap immediately after eating lunch to rejuvenate was reading on the couch. The younger girls waited one minute before the door opened revealing their mother with Lynn Sr. a few inches behind her.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" the girls squealed joyfully then circled their mother then embraced her tightly for dear life.

"I'm so happy to see you girls," Rita exclaimed with joy.

The embrace lasted five seconds before they hurried over to their dad then started hugging him, Lynn Sr. beaming with joy.

"We're so happy you're home daddy," Lana and Lola declared happily.

"How are you girls doing?" Lynn Sr. inquired then ruffled Lisa's messy brown hair but the girls were too excited to answer.

"You can go and play before dinner," he told them and they ran upstairs.

Meanwhile Lincoln and Pop-Pop had reached the porch steps. They had remained seated in the car for another twenty seconds before getting out with Lincoln maintaining a calm and collected attitude this whole time. Once inside the house, Pop-Pop and Lincoln spotted Rita seated on the worn couch awaiting their arrival.

"Afternoon Mom welcome home," Lincoln greeted cheerfully as possible but never approached Rita, unsure of his next move.

Rita automatically sensed her son's apprehension so she walked in his direction and hugged Lincoln slightly with Albert hovering over mother and son.

"I'm very glad to see you," Rita told him.

"Where's dad," Lincoln asked after three seconds passed.

Rita freed him from her grasp and replied, "He's making dinner Lincoln."

Albert followed Lincoln closely into the kitchen where Lynn Sr. was placing salmon pieces that he seasoned before the younger girl's arrival into the oven.

"Hi dad welcome home," Lincoln said making Lynn Sr. spin around.

"Hi son how was school?" his father asked.

"It was a good day," Lincoln replied in a casual manner, next he retrieved a glass from a cupboard and poured out some milk and went right upstairs to start on his homework then relax afterwards.

Lynn Jr. sat with Lily inside Vanzilla in the supermarket's parking lot waiting for her older sisters to return. Instead of heading straight home after picking up her teenage sisters Lori drove directly to the supermarket and explained to them she wanted to buy a vanilla cream cake as a welcome home gift for their parents, some fruit punch and a bottle of dishwashing liquid. Besides she was buying the cake since Pop-Pop never served the children dessert for the past two days.

Lori demanded the sporty girl remain in the van and watch over Lily which Lynn Jr. grumbled, "No way," but Lori frowned at her and said sternly, "Because you need to learn some responsibility." Lori found a parking spot underneath a tree but still asked Lynn to roll down the windows so Lily could receive the cool breeze coming from outside.

"Why is it taking them so long?" Lynn Jr. fumed six minutes later then peered out the window and noticed them returning in the distance.

"Why couldn't you buy a chocolate cake?" Leni asked Lori as they walked together.

Lori responded, "Because the four of us would have fought over it before we left the store and get the family banned again."

Lori's response was regarding an incident involving Lincoln's plan to buy a new cereal on the market being ruined by the sister's envy when they discovered their mother had allowed him to buy it as a treat with the grocery budget which caused them to start fighting Lincoln in the supermarket that ended when the Loud children knocked over a stack of toilet paper during the fight making the management ban the family from shopping there for a while.

"Sorry Lynn the ten items or less lines were long," Leni apologized upon their return. After the four girls secured their seat belts Lori headed for home.

#####################################################################################

The girl's anticipation about finally seeing their parents grew as Lori pulled Vanzilla into the Loud driveway. Luna picked up the cake beside her while Lori proceeded to unfasten a sleeping Lily from the infant seat.

Lynn Jr., Luan and Leni sprinted towards the house with Lynn reaching the front door first. Lynn discovered the front door unlocked so the girls rushed in. The parents glanced away from the afternoon talk show they were watching on TV and hurried towards them.

Hi mom, dad welcome home," Luan, Lynn and Leni cried with glee and embraced them

"I can't believe you're both here," Leni remarked.

Luna entered the house and placed the cake on the foyer table and joined the embrace, before long Lori walked in carrying Lily.

"My baby," Rita cried noticing Lily asleep in Lori's arms and Lori automatically transferred the infant over to her mother.

"Welcome Home Mom and Dad," Lori said smiling at both parents.

Luna grabbed the cake from the front table and remarked, "We got you a welcome home present."

"That's so thoughtful of you girls," Rita remarked looking at the dessert. Luna went straight ahead to put the cake in the refrigerator.

During the period Lincoln remained in his bedroom before dinnertime the boy worked on an English assignment Mrs. Johnson gave which happened to be the only homework his class received. Once finished, Lincoln relished in the fact that tomorrow would be the first Saturday in six weeks where his sisters would not be participating in any pageants, concerts, rodeos, etc. or any birthday party to perform as Luan's party assistant. Actually, Luan informed Lincoln at breakfast that morning she was firing him as her assistant but the boy wasn't upset in the least about getting fired but tomorrow there was a soccer game that Lynn would have played in but since she was grounded from playing sports he had the freedom to enjoy himself. Lincoln decided Clyde didn't need to know about the edict the Judge made for his parents regarding being in close contact with him but Clyde knew Pop-Pop was living with the family temporarily. He also explained the cell phone situation by telling his friends Liam, Rusty and Zach and Ronnie Anne they couldn't call or text him because Lori decided he and his younger sisters couldn't use their phones for a while until a little financial problem within the family was solved and they understood completely. Lincoln settled down to play a video game until he would be called for dinner.

Finally it was dinnertime and along with the baked salmon Lynn Sr. prepared and Albert bought yesterday mashed potatoes and green peas were served. Lincoln managed to seat himself between Luna and Albert.

"How was school today kids," Rita asked eventually after a few minutes.

Luan swallowed a combination of salmon and potatoes then replied, "I had a History quiz mom."

"And you Lincoln," Rita asked in curiosity.

"Nothing really exciting to report mom," Lincoln merely responded

The next person to speak was Lynn Sr, he looked directly at his father in law and announced, "Albert since it was mainly Rita's and my responsibility to ensure Lily's safe, I'll take Lisa to buy a safety gate tomorrow."

"Albert gave his son in law a wry smile and nodded in agreement.

After the delicious meal Lori said, "Excuse me," then nudged Leni with her elbow indicating she should follow Lori into the kitchen. They returned one minute later carrying slices of the vanilla cake on trays and Leni served her parents first. Everyone went about their business after enjoying the dessert. The parents decided to retire earlier that night while Albert would sleep on the air mattress that would be placed behind the couch. Lincoln joined the girls to watch another episode of Audition a bit later on.

On Saturday the children woke up late as was the custom every weekend. After serving themselves Rice Krispies for breakfast they washed the bowls and spoons before stripping their beds of the linens because it was laundry day. Lincoln was going to spend time with Clyde after doing his habitual chore of collecting the garbage.

When Lynn Jr. finished throwing her linens into the laundry chute, she remembered the soccer game she was supposed to play in today.

"I'm sure no one will mind if I watch Margo play," she mused.

She stepped into her bedroom and noticed Lucy sitting on the bare mattress writing in her diary as usual.

"Hey Luce, I'm going to watch the soccer match at the stadium," she announced but Lucy only nodded her head.

But as soon as Lynn Jr. opened the front door, the teenager instantly heard her father speaking in a disapproving tone, "Just where are you going Junior?"

She turned around sharply and saw her parents standing there with Lisa, Lincoln and Pop-Pop a few inches behind her father. Lynn Sr. folded his arms against his chest and glared slightly at her.

"Just going to the baseball to watch Margo play since mom didn't say I couldn't watch sports," she replied, hoping he'd permit her to go.

But she was wrong, he looked at his daughter sternly and responded showing authority in his voice, "You're not going anywhere Junior, you are mowing the lawn and after that you're cleaning the gutters."

"But dad, "she protested but was silenced immediately.

"No buts, LJ, now get moving," Rita demanded.

"And I'd like both jobs done properly," Lynn Sr. said firmly.

Lynn scowled with frustration then walked through the front door. As she closed the door, a satisfied smirk flashed across Lincoln's face before he went into the basement for some garbage bags.


	12. Chapter 12

Lynn Jr. continued to fume whilst on her way towards the garage to retrieve the lawnmower and ladder. She couldn't believe her father was actually laying down the law with her. There was a rule against playing sports in the house that she violated constantly which the parents ignored and she basically would do whatever she wanted. The garage door was already opened by Rita earlier so Lynn Jr just had to walk inside to get the items needed for the tasks ahead.

"I can't believe I cannot even watch Margo play," she muttered furiously.

Rita followed her husband and Lisa outside because she decided to accompany them to the Arrow store to assist with purchasing a suitable baby gate for Lily's safety, also swing by the supermarket afterwards to buy the much needed groceries including toilet paper and soap, Rita wrote the grocery list the night before retiring for the night. Albert would stay and supervise the other siblings including checking up on Lynn Jr. occasionally and Lori would do the laundry with Luna helping her older sister. Leni was tasked with looking after Lily including keeping the infant safe. Now that Lisa's room remained chemical free there were no chances of Lily accidentally knocking them over. Luan was handling Luna's chore of vacuuming the house. Lana would feed her pets and Lola would dust the furniture before settling down with Lily to enjoy Saturday mid-morning cartoons. Everyone would make their own beds with clean sheets from the laundry cupboard.

The parents waited until Lisa got securely fastened in her booster seat before Lynn Sr. started the ignition. Rita peered out the passenger window and smiled with satisfaction seeing Lynn Jr. now leaning the ladder against one side of the house to tackle cleaning the gutters first.

Minutes later Lincoln carried the first filled bag of garbage outside and passed the teen jock climbing down the ladder a few feet away. She headed in the opposite direction of him while Lincoln walked towards the curb to dump the bag of trash into one of the garbage bins. Lincoln cleaned up after taking out the last garbage bag into the bins, grabbed his wallet from his dresser and headed downstairs. He mentioned to his parents about spending some time at Clyde's house during breakfast. Lincoln intended to really catch up on his social life that was virtually nonexistent for the past six weeks as a result of getting dragged to so many events the sisters participated in. He called Clyde last night and suggested they spend an hour at the mall after playing a video game. Lincoln would have invited Ronnie Anne to join them but she told him yesterday at school she'd be swamped with chores because her brother Bobby was working for the majority of the day.

'See you later Lincoln," Albert called out as Lincoln strolled towards the front door.

"Later Pop-Pop," the boy responded.

In the Arrow store, the parents and Lisa finally stood in line to pay for the safety gate along with some cheaper toilet paper Rita grabbed. Lisa handed over her money to Lynn Sr. to purchase the items himself. The cheaper priced safety gate Lisa found on the Internet were still in stock so they automatically picked one to buy.

At this moment a large vehicle from the Royal Woods animal shelter was parked in the Louds driveway with Albert and Lana following behind two males carrying the venomous pets previously belonging to Lana in their cages. Lana still remained neutral about the snake's removal but the little girl told them goodbye before the men took them outside.

At Clyde's Lincoln enjoyed playing some new video game with Clyde for thirty minutes before the friends took the bus to the mall. They relished in the freedom of having no parents around and spent time shopping at the comic book store. Clyde also bought some new socks at Reiningers and afterwards the boys bought hot dogs with mustard and lemonade to drink in the food court and relaxed for a while.

"Well Lincoln how about we hang out at Gus next Saturday?" Clyde asked his best friend.

Lincoln took another sip of his lemonade and replied, "I'll drink to that."

The two friends slightly knocked their plastic cups together in solidarity then resumed eating without saying another word.

Meanwhile the parents and Lisa reached home and were stepping out of Vanzilla. With Lynn Sr. bringing up the rear carrying the safety gate he quickly glanced at the newly mowed lawn and thought Lynn Jr. did a really good job.

"Girls come and help bring in the groceries," Rita called to her daughters when she opened the front door whereupon Lana, Lola and Lucy leapt from the couch with Leni, Luan and Lynn Jr. who were folding some of their father's shirts already washed and dried obeyed instantly. Luna and Lori still were in the basement at the moment washing towels so they couldn't heard their mother calling. Albert was listening to his transistor radio while relaxing in Lincoln's bedroom.

"Now I don't want anyone competing to see who can carry the most bags," Rita warned the girls.

"Yes Mom," Luan and Lynn Jr. replied.

Back at the Royal Woods mall the boys now finished their lunch and rose from their seats.

"Anywhere else you'd like to go?" Lincoln suggested as the boys dumped their empty wrappers and cups into the nearest bin.

"Nah lets go home and watch some TV, the next bus is coming in ten minutes," Clyde replied.

Later Lincoln returned home just in time for some pepperoni and sausage pizza Albert ordered for the evening meal. After dinner Lori started getting ready for a date with Bobby to see a movie and the younger girls sans Lana watched cartoons with their grandfather. Lana and Lynn Sr. worked on installing the safety gate at the top of the stairs which took a matter of minutes.

"Perfect, now we've fixed everything those CPS workers complained about," Lynn Sr. remarked.

Rita arrived at this moment carrying a hammer, a nail and cardboard sign with the words, "ALWAYS CLOSE GATE BEFORE GOING DOWNSTAIRS," in huge lettering and nailed it on the wall close to the gate.

Before turning in for a good night's sleep Rita looked at the mail Lori had collected today and decided to open the letters. Some of the mail were advertisements that Rita threw in the trash instantly. Sitting at the dining table she recognized her sister in law Shirley's address at the top left corner of the envelope. Shirley was her husband's sister who was eight years older than him. Opening the envelope swiftly with a letter opener, Rita started reading.

_Mr. and Mrs. Loud, you are hereby invited to a thirtieth wedding anniversary party for Mr. and Mrs. Shirley and Ethan Maxwell at four thirty p.m. at the Crystal Restaurant in Huntington Oaks next Saturday._

Rita felt her eyes becoming tired then she yawned.

"I'll discuss this tomorrow with Lynn," she muttered to herself, placed the invitation back in the envelope and gathered every letter and went into the master bedroom.

On Sunday almost everyone stayed at home to laze about. Pop-Pop, Lincoln, Luna, and Lana visited the go-kart track located near the Royal Woods Mall to enjoy themselves for two hours. Lynn Sr. cooked roast chicken for dinner, later the older girls tackled homework assignments left undone on Friday night due to spending that night watching TV with their parents. Later the children settled around the TV after preparing everything needed for school to watch the latest episode of Operation Desert Storm except Lynn Jr. whose grounding was still in effect. She had been placed on kitchen duty by Rita after dinner and at present she laid on her bed reading a chapter of her Social Studies textbook.

"Kids time for bed," Rita requested once the show ended. They complied without any complaining.

With all the children safely in bed, Rita waited for Lynn Sr. to get under the covers before she tackled the subject of her sister in laws invitation.

"Lynn honey Shirley and Ethan sent us an invitation for us to attend a thirtieth wedding anniversary party they're having next Saturday," Rita began

Lynn Sr. swiftly turned around to his wife and said, "Really," then asked somewhat worriedly, "What about the children."

"Sweetheart they only invited us so we don't have to worry about the kids misbehaving," Rita explained.

"Well let's go, Albert can supervise the kids while we're gone," Lynn Sr. responded.

The next day being Monday Rita decided to drive the children to their respective schools then go into work afterwards. Due to Dr. Feinstein taking last Friday off, she couldn't call him at work to inform him about her being released from jail. As she entered the dental office, Rita smiled at the dental receptionist and greeted her.

"Morning Elena," Rita said pleasantly.

"Good Morning Rita," Elena replied.

Rita approached Dr. Feinstein's office and knocked lightly on the door and he responded, "Come in Rita."

Surprised at the fact he guessed who it was correctly, Rita entered the immaculately kept office and greeted her boss, "Good Morning Dr. Feinstein."

"Welcome back Rita," he began, "Please take a seat, I have something important to discuss regarding some changes I'm making to your employment here."


	13. Chapter 13

Rita started feeling a little anxiety as she pulled away the small leather armchair facing Dr. Feinstein's desk and sat down. Dr. Feinstein looked Rita directly in the eyes and began speaking.

"I'm going to be absolutely honest with you Rita, because of the child abuse charges against you I cannot allow you to assist me with the children anymore so I've decided you should assist Elena with the administrative work. You are responsible for maintaining office inventory and filling out insurance forms but you can assist me with our adult patients. However if there's a trial your employment here is over whether you're found guilty or innocent of all charges," he explained in a serious tone.

Rita looked dejected upon hearing her boss words then replied, "But if I'm found innocent it will prove I'm not a child abuser."

Dr. Feinstein knitted his brow slightly, "Rita everyone will know about the trial. Even if you're innocent parents aren't going to be comfortable having someone accused of child abuse working on their children, the children's parents and our adult patients might find another dentist if you continue working here."

"I understand Dr. Feinstein but how are Lynn and myself going to manage taking care of the kids since his boss is firing him if there's a trial," Rita asked worriedly.

"I'm deeply sorry Rita but I'll write a severance check for three thousand dollars and have it put directly in your account," Dr. Feinstein told her.

"I understand Doctor," Rita replied sadly.

"Mr. Valdez is coming for a cleaning in a few minutes so you can start by looking for his chart," Dr. Feinstein told her.

With a heavy heart Rita slowly rose from the leather chair and departed.

Meanwhile Albert was occupied with washing the breakfast things. He showered afterwards then went downstairs after getting dressed. He turned the TV to a channel showing a morning talk show he always watched and made himself comfortable on the couch. Only thirty minutes remained until the show ended. Afterwards Albert heard Lily crying out, "Mama, Mama," so he went upstairs and opened the latch on the safety gate. He picked up the infant and smiled at her.

"Good morning sunshine," he cooed.

Albert placed Lily in her high chair and reheated baby oatmeal already made. Albert watched Lily feeding herself and when she finished he wiped her mouth then bathed and dressed her. Afterwards he plopped Lily on the couch and turned on the DVD player and a disc already placed by Rita into the slot began to play a learning show for babies, then Albert washed Lily's bowl and spoon and the pot.

Before Albert could retrieve his laptop from his daughter's bedroom to watch classic sitcoms the landline phone rang.

"Hello Albert speaking whose calling?" he greeted pleasantly.

"Hi Albert this is Ms. Perkins from Child Protective Services."

"Ms Perkins nice to hear from you," the grandfather replied calmly.

"I'd like to know when is the best time I can come over to inspect the house today?" she asked.

Albert stayed deep in thought for a moment then replied, "Could you come around four this afternoon Ms. Perkins?"

"Fine, I'll be there," Ms. Perkins replied curtly before hanging up.

Lunchtime finally arrived for the older girls and Lynn sat at her usual table with her friend Margo and other girls on the soccer team. A conversation started about the soccer match played on Saturday.

"Lynnsanity you should have seen Kasey score the winning touchdown," Margo gushed

"Yeah it was awesome," another girl named Natasha remarked.

Lynn felt like screaming with frustration but fought the urge.

"Actually I wanted to come but my parents decided my punishment should include some extra chores," Lynn replied bitterly.

"Sorry Lynn," Margo replied sympathetically.

"How long are you grounded from playing sports?" Natasha asked and Lynn responded, "Two months."

Her sporty teammates all knew about the Loud sister's constant fighting because the sisters sometimes arrived at school bearing traces of black eyes and scrapes which weren't caused by playing sports.

The first class for Luan after lunch was History. Before the class began the teacher started handing out the quiz that was done last week.

"Good job Luan, see me after class," Mrs. Marshall whispered softly as she placed the quiz on Luan's desk. Taking a quick glance at the paper Luan became surprised upon seeing a B+ circled on the top right corner. This grade was the highest one Luan ever received in History. After class, Luan approached Mrs. Marshall sitting at her desk while the other students filed out of the classroom.

Mrs. Marshall smiled warmly at her student then said, "I'm proud of you Luan, I'm glad you've decided to take this class seriously."

"Well Mrs. Marshall, mom wasn't pleased with my report card and progress report. She decided my sisters and I need a break from our extracurricular activities so I'm not allowed to perform at parties so I had more time to study," Luan explained.

"I understand Luan anyway I want you to keep getting grades like this."

"Yes Ms. Marshall," Luan answered before departing.

After school the children were picked up by their mother. Albert sent Rita a text during her lunchtime and relayed the news about Ms. Perkins arriving at four p.m. As Vanzilla rattled its way towards home Lori wondered what Dr. Feinstein said to Rita at work and asked, "Mom how did it go with Dr. Feinstein?"

Rita sighed, "Lori just like your father I'm getting fired once the trial begins."

Worried looks crossed the faces of the teenagers then Leni replied anxiously, "How are we going to manage when you're both fired?" then Rita released another sigh.

"We'll have to sit down as a family and discuss the matter another time," Rita replied.

"Oh Ms. Perkins is coming at exactly four this afternoon," she informed the children a few seconds later.

Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lynn exchanged glances in the back seat and the younger kids suddenly became scared about the CPS workers returning.

When everyone arrived home Lily was napping while Albert read the newspaper and rushed inside once Rita unlocked the front door.

"Hi Pop-Pop," they chanted.

"All right kids since Ms. Perkins is coming at four you have to keep the place clean," she informed them.

"Kids I left some sandwiches for you," Albert announced.

The kids placed their schoolbags inside their rooms and washed their hands. They were treated to sandwiches made with Velveeta cheese slices and glasses of lemonade then settled down to their homework after Albert cleared the table.

Five minutes before four everyone sat in the living room awaiting the CPS workers. The doorbell rang at four pm and Rita answered.

"Hello Mrs. Perkins," Rita greeted.

"Afternoon Mrs. Loud," Maya replied.

She stepped inside briskly and headed straight upstairs. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, Rita, Albert and the kids saw Ms. Perkins return with a satisfied smile on her face.

"I see you've done everything you promised," Maya told Rita.

"But we don't have a safety gate for the basement, we keep it locked when Lily's awake," Rita said.

Maya headed towards the basement area. A sign in Rita's handwriting taped on the closed door read, "KEEP DOOR LOCKED." She noticed the door locked with the dead bolt installed by the previous owners.

"Well Mrs. Loud looks like your kids can stay," Maya announced when she returned to the living room.

The children silently cheered as Albert and Rita smiled broadly.

"I can't thank you enough Ms. Perkins," Rita said with gratitude.

"Have a good day," Maya told everyone then departed.

At dinnertime Lynn Sr. asked Rita, "So what did the doc have to say?"

"I'm not allowed to assist him with the kids anymore so I was placed on administrative duty but will help with the adult patients," Rita said.

"But Lynn just like you, I'm getting fired if there's a trial," Rita added.

Lynn Sr. somehow expected to hear Rita say that and responded, "I had a feeling that would happen."

Everyone stayed silent for the duration of the evening meal.

On Tuesday Albert told Rita during dinner he wanted to visit his fellow residents for the next two days at the senior center to keep up appearances so Lily was taken to day care on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was a Teacher Planning Day for the children of Royal Woods therefore students would stay home. To the chagrin of some students including Lori and Lynn some teachers gave out extra homework. After a late breakfast Luna sat with Luan on the couch to watch a Music channel but once she picked up the remote control, Lola rudely snatched it away from Luna and said angrily, "I'm watching My Little Pony."

The girls were unaware of Albert seeing Lola's rude action when he reached the bottom of the stairs after a bathroom break.

"LOLA! Where are your manners," he bellowed making the girls a little frightened.

Lola stood rooted to the spot as Albert approached her frowning at his granddaughter.

"Young lady stand in that corner," he commanded pointing to a corner near the front window. His tone of voice intimidated Lola so she handed Luna the remote and meekly obeyed him.

"You'll remain there for six minutes," he said sternly, the older girls looking on surprised that someone like Pop-Pop was putting Lola in her place.

Around one pm Lincoln departed to hang out with Ronnie Anne and Clyde at Gus.

Rita rested for a while after coming home from work before retrieving the mail. There was one letter and a few pieces of junk mail. Rita glanced at the address on the left corner of the letter and suddenly her heart jumped, it was a letter from the courthouse. She gathered the mail and went inside. In her bedroom Rita threw the junk mail on the dresser then pried open the letter with one finger. With her heartbeat accelerating a bit Rita sat on her bed and started reading.

_Mr. and Mrs. Loud you are hereby summoned to appear on trial next Thursday which will begin at one pm_


	14. Chapter 14

Lynn Sr. arrived home a little earlier and Rita decided to assist him with the preparations for dinner. Currently all the children were lying down in their respective bedrooms relaxing before they would be summoned for dinner. As the couple sat at the small table in the kitchen peeling potatoes Lynn Sr. asked his wife, "So how was your day honey?"

A tiny frown crossed Rita's face which didn't go unnoticed by Lynn Sr.

"Did something bad happen at work?" he asked worriedly then put down the potato he finished peeling.

"No Lynn," Rita began, then leaned her head closer to him and lowered her voice, "We received a letter from the courthouse, I'm afraid we're going on trial next Thursday."

The color drained a little from her husband's face and he uttered in a shaky voice, "Oh no."

"The trial starts at one that afternoon. We won't tell the kids until Monday because I don't want to spoil their weekend, it could be the last weekend they'll spend together," Rita added.

"What are you implying honey?" he inquired.

"If they find us guilty the kids could be separated, they definitely won't allow someone dads age to take care of them especially Junior and the younger ones," Rita replied.

Lynn Sr. smiled reassuringly at her, "All we can hope is that they find us innocent so that won't happen, continue peeling those potatoes while I check on the Salisbury steak okay."

Suddenly Albert returned from walking Charles. He returned the dog's leash to its place on the kitchen wall then relaxed in the small armchair with a novel to read until dinner.

The Loud family and Albert were gathered around the dining table enjoying the evening meal. The children watched their manners while they ate, soon everyone finished eating and Lynn Sr. announced, "Kids your Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan invited your mother and me to a party to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary tomorrow afternoon at four."

Instantly Lori and Leni started chattering excitedly upon hearing the news.

"That's so romantic," Leni gushed excitedly.

"I think I'll wear that dress I bought five weeks ago," Lori asked eagerly

"I totes have to buy a new outfit to wear to the party," Leni remarked.

"Girls, girls," their father interrupted, raising his voice, "They only invited your mother and I."

"Oh," Lori and Leni replied with disappointment.

"Pop-Pop will be in charge while we're gone," Lynn Sr. added before retreating to the kitchen.

"And Lola Pop-Pop told me about snatching the remote away from Luna so you cannot watch TV until tomorrow night," Rita spoke.

A chastened look came across Lola's face. Lynn Sr. returned with slices of marble cake served on disposable plates. Once the delicious cake was eaten, Rita said, "Junior could you help Luan with washing the dishes?"

Before bed, the parents paid the water and electric bills while Albert watched a children's movie on DVD with the kids except Lola and Lynn Jr.

Saturday morning at another late breakfast Rita asked Albert if she could borrow his car because she wanted to get to the mall to buy a new dress for the party.

"Lynn wants Lana to give Vanzilla a tune up before we leave," Rita explained.

"Sure Rita," Albert replied affectionately

"And Junior after Lana's done could you help her give Vanzilla a thorough cleaning?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Do I have to?" Lynn Jr. whined but her parents didn't respond.

"Mom could I come with you, there's a sale at…," Leni began, but was interrupted by Rita.

"No Leni, you have enough clothes and shoes," Rita scolded.

"But mom the sale," Leni started.

"Leni," Rita replied sternly with a frown silencing the fashion loving girl.

After breakfast the kids started their assigned chores and Rita quickly dressed before leaving the house. Lincoln headed to Ronnie Anne's house to play video games for an hour before joining Clyde and the red headed trio at Gus. Two hours later Rita returned carrying two bags. One contained a pair of black dress wedge heels.

"Good job girls," Rita called out as she passed Lana and Lynn Jr. still cleaning Vanzilla. She relaxed in bed alongside Lynn Sr. after a little snack of cheese and crackers.

Later the parents were dressed up and the children except Lincoln who hadn't returned were waiting in the living room with Albert.

"You look wonderful mom and dad," Leni gushed.

"Thanks Leni," Rita replied with Albert having the broadest smile on his face. Rita wore a light purple dress with tiny ruffles on the elbow length sleeves.

'Listen to Pop-Pop and Lori while we're gone," Lynn Sr. commanded.

"Could you bring back some cake mom," Lana pleaded.

"Enjoy yourselves," the teenage girls called out as the parents walked towards the door.

The parents eventually reached their destination in Huntington Oaks at 4: 20 p.m. Aunt Shirley and Ethan were standing in the lobby of the restaurant greeting their guests.

"Hello Rita so nice to see you," Shirley welcomed

"Hello Shirley, Hello Ethan," Rita answered.

"Hello Shirley," Lynn Sr. greeted his only sister cordially.

"So Lynn still driving the old clunker," Ethan joked about Vanzilla.

"Well it's still in perfect shape," Lynn Sr. responded, knowing his brother in law was just kidding around.

Soon everyone took their seats with Rita and Lynn Sr. sitting next to Aunt Shirley's and Ethan's table.

Lincoln arrived home at five fifteen, just in time for dinner with his sisters which was burgers Albert ordered from Burpin' Burger. Lincoln remained in his bedroom reading comics and Luna got ready to leave for a babysitting job.

Later whilst Lynn Sr. drove back home, Rita gazed out the passenger window, thinking deeply. At one moment during the party, she wondered about the upcoming trial and worried how her in-laws would react upon hearing about the arrest. Rita knew they had to know eventually. She had managed to push her worries aside and enjoy the remainder of the party.

"Sweetheart you know we have to inform Shirley, Ethan and your mother about the arrest and the upcoming trial," Rita asked.

Lynn Sr. sighed, "Yeah, I'll call them Monday."

They remained silent until they arrived back in Royal Woods at eight p.m. By that time Lincoln and Lynn Jr. had fallen asleep.

Sunday was a peaceful day for the family. After the usual roast chicken dinner, Rita allowed Lynn Jr. to play board games with her siblings and Pop-Pop. The athlete didn't showcase her competitive nature and acted neutral when Albert won nor boasted when she was the winner. The kids prepared for school afterward then gathered on the couch to watch Audition before going to bed.

Monday was business as usual, the kids attended school and the parents work. Albert visited the senior center with Lily for two hours where she became the center of attention of Albert's friends. At dinnertime, Rita broke the news to the children about the summons before dessert was served.

"Kids, your father and I received a summons from the courthouse two days ago. I'm afraid we're going on trial on Thursday this week, "Rita said calmly

"Oh no," Leni cried in dismay and the younger girls except Lisa began crying softly while the others remained speechless.

"The trial starts at one p.m," Rita continued in the same calm manner.

"We already informed our bosses about it today," Lynn Sr. added.

"How are we going to explain to everyone at school we'll be absent for a few days," Lori asked.

Rita replied, "I'll call your Principals and explain that you'll be absent from school for a while because of a family emergency and tell your friends the same thing."

A horrifying thought crossed Leni's mind, "But if everyone knows about the trial, they'll totes make fun of us when we go back to school."

Albert, being silent this entire time, suddenly a light bulb went off in his head.

"Maybe we could ask the court to conduct the trial in private," Albert suggested.

"That's it, we'll appeal to the Judge and ask if that's possible," Lynn Sr. remarked.

That evening Lynn Sr. placed the call to Shirley. A couple of seconds passed before she responded.

"Hello Lynn," she answered.

"Good Evening Shirley, look there's something I have to tell you, just recently Rita and I were arrested for child abuse," he started.

Shirley gasped in disbelief and whispered, "Are you being serious?"

"Yes Shirley, the trial starts Thursday this week at one p.m." he answered back

"What on earth happened," Shirley exclaimed still shocked.

"It's a long story," Lynn Sr. explained, then added in a worried tone, "I'm just afraid how momma is going to respond when I tell her."

"It's your choice Lynn," Shirley replied.

Lynn sighed with resignation and replied, "Goodnight Shirley, say hello to Ethan."

"Goodnight Lynn," Shirley replied before hanging up.

The curly haired woman sadly shook her head then wondered, "_Those girls must have done something terrible and Lynn and Rita went overboard punishing them."_

The aroma of meatloaf baking met Rita as she stepped inside the house Tuesday evening. The children just finished homework and now quietly rested on their beds awaiting dinner. Last week Tuesday the parents decided to work an extra hour every day until Wednesday of this week to earn additional money because of their jobs being terminated tomorrow. Rita found Albert reading at the small kitchen table taking a breather.

"Hello dad," she said cheerfully.

"Afternoon Rita," Albert replied.

"Have the kids finished their homework?" she asked.

Albert affirmed by saying, "Yes, they did."

Rita departed to relax on the couch but the landline phone rang immediately. Reluctantly she approached the phone and noticed a man's name on the caller ID. Wondering who it was Rita answered.

"Hello this is Mrs. Loud speaking," she spoke.

"Hello Mrs. Loud, my name is Barrington Shapiro, I'm a defense attorney hired by the court to represent you and your husband, is it possible to come today to speak with both of you," he spoke with a slight Midwestern accent.

"Well my husband isn't home yet, could you come at five fifty," Rita suggested.

"That's fine Ms. Loud I'll be there," Mr. Shapiro replied.

Later the doorbell rang promptly at 5: 50 when dinner ended. Rita looked through the keyhole and saw a forty something male dressed in a suit and burgundy tie who carried a brown suitcase standing there.

She quickly opened the front door and greeted him, "Good evening you must be Mr. Barrington Shapiro, come in."

**The trial begins in the next chapter…..**


	15. Chapter 15

"Good evening Mrs. Loud," the well-dressed man said cordially to Rita before stepping over the threshold. Lynn Sr. and Albert walked into the foyer and approached Mr. Shapiro.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Shapiro, I'm Lynn Loud Sr," the father greeted then extended his right hand for the defense attorney to shake, then it was Albert's turn to introduce himself.

"I'm Rita's father," he added at the end.

"Pleased to meet you," Mr. Shapiro replied, then inhaled sharply after shaking Albert's hand.

"Where are your children, it's necessary that I speak with them too," he added.

"Sure Mr. Shapiro," Lynn Sr. replied then rushed to the kitchen to call Lynn Jr. and Lori who were busy washing the dinner items and Rita stood at the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "Kids could you come downstairs please?"

The children arrived in a mannerly fashion. The teenagers and Lincoln stood behind the couch and the younger girls sat on the couch with their parents. Mr. Shapiro sat on the armchair while Albert grabbed a dining room chair and placed it near the couch and sat down. Lily was currently napping.

"Kids let me introduce myself I'm Barrington Shapiro, I was hired to represent your parents at the trial, now since they were charged…"

"How much money did they pay?" Leni chimed, causing the other teens to exchange exasperated looks.

"Leni it means mom and dad were accused of doing something bad," Lori explained.

"Since your parents were charged with child abuse, you all have to conduct yourselves in court in a manner that will convince the jury your parents are innocent," Mr. Shapiro continued.

"Young man I assume you are Lincoln, the one your parents were accused of abusing?" he asked Lincoln.

"Yes Mr. Shapiro," the boy replied politely.

"I have copies of the police and CPS reports. Son you could be called upon as a witness to testify against them so answer the judge truthfully but make sure the jury believes your parents were unaware their actions were abusive," Mr. Shapiro asked.

"Mr. Shapiro," Albert interjected, "I know the open court principle in our country requires trials be open to the public but since my daughter and son in law are charged with child abuse can an exception be made by conducting the trial in private."

The defense attorney knitted his brow then replied, "I'll see if that's possible and call you. It was nice meeting everyone, see you on Thursday," he concluded.

The parents walked the attorney to the front door. When Mr. Shapiro departed, Lynn Sr. sighed and departed for his bedroom, he decided to make a certain call. Steeling his nerves, he dialed a number on his cell phone and when the person answered Lynn Sr. said, "Hello mom….."

The next day whilst Lincoln and his friends ate lunch he said, "Hey guys, I have something to say starting tomorrow you won't see me or my sisters at school for a while because of some family matters."

"We understand buddy," Liam responded after taking a sip of goat milk he carried from home.

Clyde actually knew the reason Lincoln would be absent from school since his best friend texted him Monday night regarding his parents going on trial on Thursday.

"Well I hope everything gets straightened out," Rusty remarked.

Throughout the school day the sisters told their friends the same thing Lincoln told his friends.

It was seven p.m. when Lynn Sr. arrived home on his final day having worked more overtime. The kids sat on the couch with Albert watching another _Becky, Vicky, Mickey, and Sean_ episode on TV. Rita released Junior and Lori from their groundings that afternoon.

"Good evening kids," Lynn Sr. greeted them in a weary tone.

"Evening dad," the children chanted.

Lynn Sr. washed his hands at the kitchen sink before ladling out goulash he prepared last night that was served for dinner and warmed it in the microwave. Rita was searching through the closets of the younger girls to find suitable outfits for them to wear at the trial. The show ended as Rita came downstairs.

"Can I have your attention kids," she announced and the younger girls groaned. Albert grabbed the remote and muted the TV. Lynn Sr. joined them.

"Since Mr. Shapiro said that we should make a good impression, Lola you will dress normally, so I picked out one of the dresses you refuse to wear, and no tiaras," Rita began.

"But Mom," Lola objected and Lana chortled at her twin.

"And Lana, you're taking a bath and wearing one of Lola's dresses," Rita interjected causing the tomboy to groan and Lola to smirk.

"Junior wear one of your dress blouses with your dress pants and leather shoes. Lola and Lucy no makeup and Lori, Leni, and Luna, don't wear too much," Rita added.

"As Shapiro said, be on your best behavior, Luan this means no whoopee cushions or pranks in general, everyone will speak quietly, nobody's fighting over where to sit and no texting in court Lori," Lynn Sr. added sternly.

"We get it dad," Lori said nonchalantly.

"Now please don't stay up late kids," Rita said before they left. Before going to bed Lincoln pressed his blue suit then hung it amongst his orange shirts.

Next morning…

Realizing today would seal their fate, the parents reluctantly crawled out of bed after Rita turned off the alarm she set for nine a.m. last night. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Shapiro called Rita to say the Judge agreed for the trial to be conducted privately which satisfied everyone. With the kids fast asleep they showered before preparing breakfast

Later Lincoln stirred awake and read 10:30 a.m. on his Muscle Fish clock then leapt out of bed. He noticed Luna and Luan were waiting at the bathroom door for Lynn to finish showering.

"Morning bro," Luna greeted.

"Everyone else is having breakfast," Luan added. All the children were showering different times with Lori and Leni having done so already.

Lincoln noticed Albert and the younger sisters sitting at the table having breakfast.

"Morning Pop-Pop," he greeted.

"Morning Lincoln," Albert greeted back.

Lincoln placed some bacon, two pancakes and scrambled eggs onto his plate from the serving plates and joined Albert after microwaving the food.

"Did you sleep well kiddo?" Albert asked

"Yes Pop-Pop," Lincoln replied.

Lincoln showered after eating and the younger girls afterwards. Lincoln relaxed by playing a video game until it was time to get dressed. The younger sisters kept occupied watching cartoons until 12:10 p.m. when Rita demanded, "Girls please get dressed."

With everyone ready at 12:30 p.m. they congregated in the living room. Despite Lana frowning about having to wear a purple dress of Lola's everybody else had serious expressions on their faces. Lynn Sr. wore his usual suit and tie Rita pressed that morning. The doorbell rang and Rita rushed to answer.

"Thanks for agreeing to babysit Lily, Ruthie," Rita told her Aunt.

"Let's go everyone," Lynn Sr. commanded.

Finally arriving at the Courthouse at 12:56 p.m. the Loud family filed out of Vanzilla. They entered the mostly empty courtroom and the parents were and were ushered by the bailiff to sit at the left table in front of the Judges podium. towards the rows of seats to the left of the Judge's podium. Then Mr. Shapiro approached the children who smiled warmly.

"Hello children," he greeted cordially at the table to the right of the Judges podium before approaching the parents.

"Afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Loud," he greeted.

he parents Lucy and the teenage sisters sat in the second row of the gallery while Lincoln, Albert and the others sat in front of them. The younger girls fidgeted a little and Lana whispered to Albert, "Will this take long?" and he replied, "We don't know honey," unenthusiastically.

The prosecuting attorney Charlene Bolivar sat at the other table

Four minutes later…

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Ingrid Callahan," the bailiff announced.

Everyone obeyed and waited for the Judge to be seated before sitting down.

The Judge perused some documents in front of her before speaking.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, you are charged with child abuse of your son Lincoln is this true?" Judge Callahan asked somberly.

Your Honor, my clients made an error in judgement when they made their son wear a mascot costume on the beach," Mr. Shapiro said.

The prosecuting attorney Sharon Bello sat on the right table nethe parents.

"I call my first witness Officer Madison to the stand," Ms. Bello stated.

Officer Madison placed her left hand on the bible, then the bailiff asked, "State your name please."

"My name is Officer Emily Sabrina Madison," she stated.

"Officer Madison could you tell me what the defendants told you the night you and Detective Riley questioned them?" Ms. Bello asked.

"They said after attending a baseball game of Lynn her team lost then she began accusing him of jinxing her team because he hadn't attended any of her games for months. Lynn started telling her other sisters he shouldn't attend their events because of his bad luck but Lincoln decided to play along. When we asked why he pretended to be bad luck Lincoln explained he was obligated to support his nine sisters by attending all of their events and that cut into his free time so when Lynn spread the rumor he was bad luck Lincoln played along so he could get his alone time. Mr. and Mrs. Loud overheard him insisting he was bad luck and figured he was pretending because he sounded too eager to stay home and not support his sisters, so they decided to play along and told him he couldn't come to the movies with the family. Lincoln attended another game wearing the costume and when Lynn's team won he revealed himself and said wearing the costume proved he wasn't bad luck. They made him wear the costume to the beach by telling him it would keep bad luck away from the family but only intended Lincoln to wear it for twelve minutes before asking him to remove it then reveal they knew he was lying about being unlucky and were just teaching him a lesson," Officer Madison explained.

"So you basically used Lincoln as a good luck charm without caring about his well-being," Ms. Bolivar asked the parents.

Rita and Lynn Sr. exchanged nervous glances then Officer Madison continued.


	16. Chapter 16

"After Mr. and Mrs. Loud told my partner Detective Riley and myself the entire story we arrested them, The next day my partner told me when the children's grandfather Albert arrived with the oldest daughter at the jail later, Mr. and Mrs. Loud told him they had Lincoln's bedroom boarded up and made him sleep on the back porch, I assume it was to keep his so called bad luck outside," Officer Madison concluded.

"Thank you Officer Madison," Ms. Bolivar replied.

During Officer Madison's testimony Mr. Bernard Grouse had walked briskly through the courtroom doors then the elderly man sat three rows behind the Loud children near a woman who appeared to be in her early fifties.

"Call your next witness," Judge Callahan spoke as Officer Madison returned to her seat.

" I call Mr. Bernard Grouse to the stand," Ms. Bolivar stated.

"Could you approach the stand Mr. Grouse," Judge Callahan asked.

'Oh, my God," Rita whispered to her husband in astonishment while the sisters gasped quietly in disbelief upon hearing their neighbors name and Lincoln was dumbfounded.

"Could you approach the stand Mr. Grouse," Judge Callahan asked.

Mr. Grouse walked towards the stand with determination on his face.

The bailiff held out a Bible towards Mr. Grouse and declared, "Place your left hand on the bible," and the senior did as instructed.

"State your name please," the bailiff asked.

"My name is Bernard Ulysses Grouse," he stated, then Luan instantly realizing what his initials were and started chuckling.

"His initials stand for "bug." No wonder he's always BUG-ing us," Luan laughed a little loudly causing Lori to jab a manicured fingernail on her right arm.

Luan winced and cried, "Ouch."

"Raise your right hand," the bailiff asked and Mr. Grouse complied.

"Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" the bailiff continued.

"I do," the elderly man replied.

"Now Mr. Grouse how long have you've been neighbors with the Louds?" Judge Callahan asked when he sat down.

"They moved next door to me when the three older girls were toddlers and Rita was pregnant. From the beginning the girls weren't really a problem. Sometimes I heard them making the typical noise kids make when they were playing but they weren't really loud then compared to the screaming they do now since there's ten of them, sometimes I can hear one of the teenage girls screeching at another to give her back something whether it's a blouse or perfume," he stated.

Lori instantly knew Mr. Grouse was talking about her and became somewhat embarrassed.

"You see their grandmother Amy picked up the girls after school and baby sat while Lynn worked and Rita went to the community college and whenever Rita and Lynn Sr. went out some Saturday or Sunday nights. It seems she could get them to behave," Bud continued.

"Let's move on, what kind of parents are Mr. and Mrs. Loud," Ms. Bolivar asked

"Well they seem to be somewhat dismissive, I've seen the infant sitting on the grass or driveway wearing only a diaper, sometimes one or both parents are outside and don't bother to pick her up. Once I saw one of the teenagers chasing another one with a fake spider dangling on a stick and the one getting chased is screaming her head off in absolute terror. There's the twin who drove over my prized petunias with her toy car and Rita didn't seem concerned about it when I complained about it."

"Mrs. Loud is that true?" Judge Callahan inquired.

"Your Honor, I punished Lola by taking away the car and forbade her from driving it for one week but when my husband came home from a business trip the next day she whined to him about it and he returned it to her," Rita explained truthfully.

"Mr. Grouse what about Lincoln is he a troublemaker," Ms. Bolivar inquired curiously.

"One thing for sure, he doesn't contribute to the noise over there, sometimes he does things that could be described as mere misdemeanors," Bud replied.

"For instance," the prosecuting attorney asked

"One Christmas his sled accidentally fell into my yard and as usual I confiscated it like all the toys these kids carelessly drop into my yard, anyway he snuck into my house while I was out to locate his sled and I caught him when I arrived home unexpectedly. I told him to go home when he started asking me questions about my family because he noticed a picture of them on the mantelpiece."

"Wait a second Mr. Grouse, couldn't you have returned the children's toys instead of confiscating them," Judge Callahan asked in disbelief.

"Excuse me Your Honor that has no relation to the trial," Ms. Bolivar spoke.

"I haven't finished my story," Mr. Grouse complained, "I returned all of their belongings when the family bought me a bus ticket to visit my relatives for the holidays."

"That was a kind gesture the Louds did for you," Judge Callahan replied.

Ms. Bolivar continued," Now Mr. Grouse have you seen anything about the Loud children that indicates they're being abused or neglected?"

Mr. Grouse frowned a little then spoke, "Sometimes I see the twin who wears a red baseball cap searching garbage cans for food and eating it. The children scream at each other a lot and there's always loud rock music coming from the house."

Meanwhile both attorneys became astounded at hearing about Lana rummaging through garbage cans. Ms. Bolivar decided that information could be used as evidence to convince the jury Rita and Lynn Sr. are abusive parents. The Loud family were shocked their elderly neighbor was revealing all this causing Rita to grip her husband's left hand and Lori placed her right hand on her forehead exasperatedly

"_Lana, I told you to stop eating from the garbage,"_ Lori thought.

"A child foraging in garbage cans for food to eat is clearly child neglect, and forcing their son to wear a mascot suit in extreme heat just for lying to get some free time away from his sisters makes Mr. and Mrs. Loud unfit parents," Ms. Bolivar stated.

Lola became offended by the remark made about her parents being unfit to parent and a scowl crossed the girl's face.

"Mr. Grouse you can step down," Ms. Bolivar said.

I call my first witness Mrs. Beverly Francis to the stand," Mr. Shapiro stated whilst Mr. Grouse walked back to his seat.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Grouse Mrs. Francis another neighbor, who lived a few doors away from the Loud residence was approached the same time Officer Madison spoke with Mr. Grouse by Detective Riley.

After going being sworn in, Mrs. Francis began.

"How long have you lived on Franklin Avenue, Mrs. Francis," Mr. Shapiro asked.

"For almost twenty years," she replied.

"Are you acquainted with the Loud family?" Mr. Shapiro inquired.

"Not really, but it's difficult to ignore the loud noises those kids make, sometimes there's explosions and loud rock music. One night I actually saw fireworks flying through the windows," Mrs. Francis explained to Mr. Shapiro.

Suddenly Luna gulped, knowing that was her doing, that happened the night Lincoln overthrew Lori as their babysitter when their parents went on their many date nights.

"_That must have happened the night one of my golf clubs got broken," Lynn Sr. thought._

"Then one morning around six forty my sleep was disrupted by people screaming and yelling outside so I peeped through my window and immediately glanced over at their house. I noticed the van shaking as if a brawl was taking place inside, their mother appeared at a window and yelled at the kids to get inside the house and she didn't want them in the van until seven a.m. I saw the girls leaving the van then after closing the window I heard one of them say, "I guess you won't be getting the sweet seat now," then I heard mean spirited laughter.

The Loud sisters suddenly became self-conscious. The three oldest wished to disappear in their seats and Lincoln was mortified to say the least.

"Have you seen evidence of the Loud children being abused or neglected," Mr. Shapiro asked.

Mrs. Francis continued, "One day I was greeted by an unusual sight, I saw the children pushing that old minivan of theirs down the street while their mother sat behind the wheel, I also saw one of the younger girls standing on the roof of the van waving like she was in a parade."

"_Interesting," Mr. Shapiro thought._

"Just like Bud, I've seen the red capped child once or twice eating from the garbage cans. It's either there's not enough food to feed so many children or a strange quirk the child has," Mrs. Francis said.

Lynn Sr. raised a hand and said, "Judge Callahan may I have permission to speak."

"You may Mr. Loud," she responded cordially

"My wife and I make sure all our children are fed proper food everyday, Rita and I aren't aware of some things our children do while we're making a living to provide everything they need, we never saw Lana searching in garbage cans for food and none of our neighbors complained to us about it," he admitted.

"Mrs. Francis you can return to your seat," Mr. Shapiro requested.

Judge Callahan banged her gavel on the podium and called for a ten minute break.

**A/N" I knew that Lori didn't say the "sweet seat" in the episode The Sweet Spot but I'm making Mrs. Francis think that's what Lori said.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Episodes mentioned in the last Chapter…Vantastic Voyage, No Guts, No Glori, The Sweet Spot, and Eleven Louds a Leapin'**

While Mr. Shapiro approached Rita and Lynn Sr. table with a somber expression, Albert and his grandchildren walked towards them eager to hear what Mr. Shapiro had to say. At this moment Maya Perkins and another man entered the courtroom. Before Mrs. Francis departed, she bade Mr. Grouse said goodbye to him.

Rita smiled weakly at the defense attorney and asked, "What does our situation look like Mr. Shapiro?"

"To be honest Mrs. Loud it doesn't look promising due to certain incidents your neighbors mentioned, especially concerning your daughter Lana," Mr. Shapiro admitted. Lana was feeling extremely unhappy at this point.

"So what's your next move Mr. Shapiro?" Lori asked curiously.

"I will put more witnesses on the stand that could prove your parents aren't abusive," he replied.

Lana glanced behind her and couldn't believe her eyes. Mr. Rubiner, the man sitting next to Maya in the gallery was Lana and Lola's first grade teacher and he appeared a bit nervous.

"I'm thirsty," Lola told Albert and Leni quickly grabbed her right hand and the other younger girls followed them into the lobby towards a water fountain to quench their thirst.

"Do you intend to place our children on the stand?" Rita asked.

"Not all of them," Mr. Shapiro responded and the mother looked puzzled.

Mr. Shapiro returned to his seat and Albert declared, "Rita and Lynn after dinner I'd like to have a serious discussion with everyone."

"Yes dad," Rita replied wearily.

Soon everyone returned to their seats in the gallery and Judge Callahan strolled towards the podium.

"I'd like to call my next witness, Mr. Allen Rubiner to the stand," Mr. Shapiro announced. The first grade teacher stood beside the Judge and the bailiff asked, "State your name please."

Mr. Rubiner stated his name and after swearing the oath on the bible sat down.

"Mr. Rubiner you are Lana and Lola's teacher is that correct," Mr. Shapiro began.

"That's correct," their teacher responded.

"Have you seen Lana and Lola coming to school looking like they've been abused," Mr. Shapiro asked.

"Quite often I've seen them with little bruises or scratches but I assume they are caused by the typical fights siblings have, one time I became concerned about it and contacted Mrs. Loud. She admitted the twins argue constantly with each other or with their sisters over trivial matters and most of the times it turns physical. Mrs. Loud admitted she and Mr. Loud used to intervene to stop the fighting but after a while they stopped doing so and hoped they would grow out of it," their teacher admitted.

"Mr. Rubiner did it occur to you that because the twins arrived at school often with injuries that Mrs. Loud wasn't being truthful and that she and her husband were in fact abusing her children or dismissed the numerous fights between her daughters as something they'll grow out of?" Ms. Bolivar interjected.

"Objection, fighting between siblings is natural," Mr. Shapiro defended, a belief that Ms. Bolivar didn't agree with.

"Have you ever seen Lana eating out of dumpsters or garbage cans on school property?" Mr. Shapiro asked next.

Lana's teacher looked visibly shocked for two seconds then responded quickly, "No I haven't."

Mr. Shapiro couldn't think of another question then asked, "Mr. Rubiner you can step down."

Ten seconds later Ms. Bolivar stated, 'I'm calling my next witness Maya Perkins to the stand," causing the teenage sisters and the parents to glance at each other worriedly.

"My name is Maya Lorraine Perkins," she replied after being asked to state her name.

After Maya took the oath Ms. Bolivar asked, "Are you the CPS worker who arrived at the Loud residence to investigate claims of child abuse?"

"Yes Madam," Maya replied.

"Did you find anything indicating the children were being abused or neglected?" Ms. Bolivar asked next.

"I discovered a number of violations, there were no safety gates for the infant, dangerous chemicals were standing on a table next to the baby's crib and one of the twins had many pets including a few venomous snakes and toys were scattered all over the front lawn," Maya responded.

"How did Mr. and Mrs. Loud react when you brought these violations to their attention," Ms. Bolivar inquired matter of factly.

"They seemed quite surprised about it then Mr. Loud explained they never installed safety gates for any of their children. I asked them if they made their younger kids buckle up when they're travelling in the car and Mrs. Loud said yes," Maya admitted.

Ms. Bolivar shook her head slightly in disbelief then replied, "So we have parents who're only concerned about their children being safe while travelling on the road but don't care about their safety at home."

Suddenly Rita released a frustrated sigh over Ms. Bolivar's accusations that she and Lynn Sr. were flippant about their children's safety.

"Ms. Perkins you may continue," Ms. Bolivar urged.

"I returned with a coworker a couple days later to remove the younger children but their grandfather Albert who was taking care of the children temporarily while Mr. and Mrs. Loud were in jail for the previous charge of child abuse against their son. Albert objected to the children's removal and promised me he'd work with them to fix those violations by the following Monday. When I returned Monday every one of those violations were resolved," Maya continued.

Satisfied with the CPS workers response Ms. Bolivar asked, "Ms. Perkins you can step down."

As Maya briskly stepped down from the podium, Judge Callahan asked, "Ms. Bolivar, Mr. Shapiro do you have any more witnesses."

"No Your Honor," Ms. Bolivar replied followed by Mr. Shapiro.

"Then court is adjourned until eleven a.m. tomorrow," the Judge replied before banging her gavel.

The family and Albert silently walked out of the courtroom and towards Vanzilla in a somber mood. It was almost four thirty in the afternoon and everyone began feeling hungry and exhausted. Sensing everyone's downcast mood, Rita asked, "Anyone want pizza for dinner," but no one responded.

Lynn Sr. wasn't inclined to cook anything for dinner and said, "I'll swing around to the supermarket and get some fried chicken and potato salad from the deli."

After arriving at the supermarket Lynn Sr. and Lori went inside while everybody else stayed in Vanzilla without speaking.

As Vanzilla eventually pulled into the Loud driveway, Albert, sitting behind Rita declared, "Kids I intend to hold a family meeting after dinner

Rita arrived at the front door first and unlocked it. She noticed Aunt Ruth laying on the couch watching a soap opera while Lily slept beside her.

"Hello Ruthie," Rita declared, then everyone else entered the house with Lincoln carrying the bag with the potato salad and Lori the fried chicken platter.

Ruth grabbed her handbag and declared, "It was nice taking care of Lily but tomorrow someone else has to babysit because I'd like to attend the trial."

"As long as it isn't that traitor Mr. Grouse," Lynn Jr. thought bitterly.

"Okay Ruthie it starts at eleven a.m." Rita replied.

'See you tomorrow Albert," Ruth said before leaving.

Lynn Sr. placed the chicken into a pot and warmed it in the oven. After the meal ended Albert walked behind Rita and his son in law at the table and paced back and forth a few seconds then stood behind Rita and crossed his arms in exasperation.

"I can't believe what I heard in that courtroom, eating from garbage cans, setting off fireworks inside the house, fighting inside the van in the early hours of the morning over a car seat and driving over the neighbor's flowers. Who was responsible for setting off the fireworks?" Albert began.

Luna raised her hand sheepishly, "It was me Pop-Pop, but they were firecrackers. It happened one night when mom and dad were out on a date night and Lincoln started a rebellion against Lori being in charge. We tied Lori to a chair then Lana suggested Lincoln should take charge before we locked Lori in her room. We took advantage of Lincoln by doing whatever we wanted," she explained.

"I see, what else happened?" Rita remarked calmly

"I poured dirt all over the living room to ride my dirt bike," Lynn Jr. admitted making Rita's left eye twitch.

"And dad Lori lied when she told you she accidentally broke your golf club. Lola hit me with it when I tried to rescue Lori when things got too crazy," Lincoln admitted causing his father to frown.

The three adults shook their heads in disappointment.

"We managed to clean the house after Lincoln eventually rescued me," Lori said.

"No wonder it smelled like the carpet had been washed," Rita thought.

"And Rita I hope they were punished for fighting outside that early in the morning," Albert remarked.

"Actually dad at seven a.m. the kids ran outside and started another brawl inside Vanzilla. The van literally fell apart because the fight was so savage. I grounded them to the living room for the weekend so they could learn to get along," Rita confessed.

Albert began scolding them, "Kids I'm absolutely disappointed with your behavior, and Rita and Lynn it's apparent you've allowed my grandkids to have complete control over the house. Why are you allowing them to act like wild animals?"

"Dad Lynn and I do the best we can to instill some order but the kids can be strong willed," Rita said wearily feeling a slight headache coming on.

Albert pinched the bridge of his nose then continued, "That's no excuse Rita, the children need discipline. Stop letting them do whatever they want."

A few seconds of silence passed before Albert said, "Meetings over."

While everyone departed, Albert walked outside to sit on the porch to read.

As the Loud children prepared for bed, Lincoln's friend Ronnie Anne was busy packing a few items into her schoolbag when her began thinking about him. During the past four days, she couldn't help but notice Lincoln seemed to be hiding something from her. She assumed Lincoln mentioned it to Clyde then wondered if she should interrogate Lincoln about it but quickly changed her mind thinking it was probably a boy matter.

"But what if is something else?" Ronnie Anne muttered after zipping up her schoolbag.

"I'll ask Clyde what is going on with Lincoln," she resolved before leaving her room to shower.


	18. Chapter 18

Albert and Lynn Sr. quietly sat on the couch watching the nightly news report when Rita emerged from the master bedroom. Rita fell asleep almost three hours ago after taking two Advil's for her headache and had just woken up. She was heading upstairs to shower in order to avoid the morning rush. Albert had called his friend Melba, a retired nanny who lived at Sunset Canyon to babysit Lily tomorrow and she agreed to do it for free. Melba became acquainted with Lily when Albert visited the center with the infant a few days ago. Impulsively Rita peeped into the younger sisters bedrooms. After watching Lisa and Lily in peaceful slumber for twenty seconds, Rita's next destination was the twin's bedroom.

Rita glanced at Lola sleeping in the four poster bed the six year old won at a pageant when she was five years old and frowned a little.

"Lynn really does spoil her," Rita thought then noticed a stuffed animal beside Lola. One year ago while on a shopping trip at the Arrow store for back to school supplies Lola wanted Lynn Sr. to purchase the stuffed bear when Rita told her buying toys wasn't on the agenda. Lola began throwing a massive temper tantrum that embarrassed them to a point until Lynn Sr. relented and bought the toy to prevent the management from kicking the family out of the store.

Suddenly Rita heard Lana muttering, "Mom."

Rita walked over to the tomboy and asked gently, "What is it Lana?"

"Are you angry that I eat out of the garbage?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Why do you eat from the garbage, it's not a sanitary practice," Rita asked but Lana wasn't able to explain.

"I promise I won't do it anymore," Lana declared, then said worriedly, "Mom what if they use that and the other stuff Mr. Grouse and Ms. Francis said to send you and dad to jail permanently."

Rita sighed, "We can just pray that doesn't happen Lana, get some rest honey."

"Goodnight Mom," Lana replied.

The next morning as the Loud children were deep in slumber, at Royal Woods Elementary, Ronnie Anne headed towards Clyde as she noticed him opening his locker in hopes that Clyde would answer her questions about Lincoln.

Clyde became startled as Ronnie Anne touched his left shoulder and sharply turned around

"Please don't shove me in another garbage can," Clyde pleaded frantically but Ronnie Anne just smiled at him reassuringly making him at ease.

"Relax Clyde I'm a changed person," Ronnie Anne declared.

Three days before Lincoln wore the squirrel costume on the beach Ronnie Anne had punched her classmate Miguel for a trivial reason and his mother complained to Principal Huggins about her actions, her mother Maria had threatened to send Ronnie Anne to military school if she didn't stop bullying others which scared her, in addition she was grounded by Maria.

"What's the deal with Lincoln lately, does it have anything to do with his family," Ronnie Anne inquired

Clyde was taken by surprised and a bewildered expression crossed his face.

"You mean he hasn't told you? You're his second best friend after all," Clyde uttered, causing the tomboy to shake her head.

"Ronnie Anne, I think it's better if you call Lincoln and ask him," Clyde continued.

Luckily Ronnie Anne's grounding ended today so she would be able to speak with him.

"Okay Clyde, oh wait Lincoln's phone was taken," Ronnie Anne uttered.

"Oh, Lincoln said he might come over my house later, you could meet him there," Clyde responded.

"Oh good could you call him and if he's coming over call me and I'll be there," Ronnie Anne asked then the first bell rang before Clyde could answer.

After a hearty breakfast prepared by Lynn Sr. everyone rushed to get themselves ready. Since the adults, Lori and Lincoln had showered the night before the bathroom line was considerably shorter. At a quarter to ten Melba arrived and after Rita left instructions for taking care of Lily, everyone piled into Vanzilla. There was complete silence during the ride until Lola spoke.

"Do you think Mr. Shakira will keep mom and dad from going to jail?" she asked Luna sitting beside her.

"I really hope so bra," Luna replied.

As the family entered the courtroom Lincoln's heart skipped a little upon seeing Mrs. Johnson sitting in the gallery in the third row. She turned around and noticed Lincoln, smiled at him then rushed over towards the family.

"Good morning Mrs. Johnson," Rita and Lynn Sr. greeted simultaneously.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Loud," she greeted back before speaking with her student.

"Lincoln don't worry I didn't tell your classmates about the trial," she told him reassuringly before returning to her seat.

The children and Albert noticed Aunt Ruth sitting in the second row of the gallery and sat with her while the parents approached the defendant's table where Mr. Shapiro already sat. Glancing around quickly Lincoln became puzzled when he spotted a projector screen standing to the right side of the Judge's podium. At this moment Joshua and Katie arrived

Shortly Judge Callahan entered the courtroom and the bailiff announced, "All rise for the Honorable Judge Ingrid Callahan!"

After everyone was seated, the bailiff continued, "Court is now in session."

Mr. Shapiro declared, "Your Honor I'd like to call Mrs. Agnes Johnson to the stand."

"Please state your name Mrs. Johnson," the bailiff asked.

"Agnes Maureen Johnson," the redhead stated then afterwards sworn on the bible.

"Mrs. Johnson you are Lincoln Louds teacher, correct," Mr. Shapiro began.

"Yes Mr. Shapiro," she answered graciously.

"Mrs. Johnson what kind of student is Mr. Loud?" Mr. Shapiro asked next.

"Lincoln is one of my best students and he's respectable, friendly and hardworking," Agnes declared.

Rita and Lynn Sr. couldn't resist beaming with delight at Mrs. Johnson praising their son.

"Have you seen Lincoln coming to school sometimes with injuries Mrs. Johnson?" he inquired.

"Yes every once in a while most of my students including Lincoln arrive at school with injures that children get occasionally from playing or arguing with other children," Agnes explained.

"Regarding Mr. and Mrs. Loud do they seem to be dedicated and committed parents who attend parent teacher conferences and school events," Mr. Shapiro asked.

"Objection, that question has no relevance to this trial," Ms. Bolivar stated.

"Actually it's important to know if the parents are concerned about their children's well-being including their education," Mr. Shapiro retorted.

Agnes cleared her throat before answering, "Yes they have attended parent teacher conferences and school events but four weeks ago Lincoln asked permission to leave at one p.m on Monday to attend a presentation his sister Lisa was giving at the university and Friday that same week he asked permission to leave at one thirty because he had to attend a pageant his sister Lola was participating in because it was starting at two thirty."

Mr. Shapiro nodded then replied, "I understand, Mrs. Johnson you can step down."

Whilst Mrs. Johnson headed towards the exit, the prosecution declared, "I'd like to call Miss Katherine Ventura to the stand."

Katie sat down after being sworn in then Ms. Bolivar approached her.

"When you saw the victim wearing a mascot costume on the beach, what was your reaction?"

'My coworker Joshua Hunter and I were heading back to the office after our lunch break when I saw someone wearing it on the beach. When I brought it to Joshua's attention he thought it was a college student being initiated into a fraternity. We decided to investigate and he introduced himself as Lincoln Loud after he removed the head of the costume. We asked him to follow us into the office where I gave him some cold water to drink afterwards I asked if there was a reason why he was wearing the costume in this heat and Lincoln told us he made a bet with his sisters that he could wear it for three days straight, but we doubted his story. Mr. Hunter asked Lincoln if he was at the beach with his family. He said yes so I went on the loudspeaker and summoned them to the office. Mr. and Mrs. Loud confessed they asked their daughters to help them teach Lincoln a lesson for pretending to be bad luck after their daughter Lynn played in a baseball game and her team lost and she accused him of being bad luck. Lincoln admitted to pretending he was bad luck to avoid attending his other sister's events," Katie admitted.

While Katie testified, the bailiff arrived in the courtroom wheeling a projector on a small table and placed it in front of the projector screen.

"Ms. Ventura, is this the costume you saw the victim wearing on the beach," Ms. Bolivar inquired while another police officer closed the blinds.

Instantly Lincoln realized that the squirrel suit he never wanted to lay eyes upon again would be shown and he whispered fearfully, "Oh, no," then closed his eyes. An image of Lincoln standing miserably and dejected on the beach wearing the costume that was taken from one of the beach cameras appeared on the projector screen causing Aunt Ruth to gasp in disbelief. Rita clenched her husband's right hand upon seeing the image and held back tears. Needless to say Albert looked on dumbfounded while the sisters were speechless.

"Yes definitely," Katie replied and Joshua nodded in agreement.

"What else did Mr. and Mrs. Loud admit to?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

"They confessed to boarding up his bedroom door the night before they attended another baseball game and Mrs. Loud made him sleep on the back porch with a blanket, pillow, comic books and video games to keep him occupied. Lincoln told us he was determined to prove he wasn't bad luck so the next morning he snuck into the stadium and persuaded someone to lend him the costume and snuck into the game wearing it, fortunately Lynn's team won. Lincoln told us after joining his family to congratulate Lynn he removed the costume, they suddenly believed he wasn't bad luck and decided Lincoln should wear the costume on their beach trip. Mr. and Mrs. Loud said they would let him take off the costume after twelve minutes and confess they knew he was lying and only teaching him a lesson," Katie continued.

Lincoln slowly opened his eyes and to his relief the picture was gone.

"I asked them for their names and contact information," Katie replied, "The next day I called the police from home since the beach is closed on Mondays."

"Thanks for your cooperation Ms. Ventura, you can step down," Ms. Bolivar stated.

Mr. Shapiro rose from his seat as Katie returned to her seat.

Judge Callahan asked, "Call your next witness, Mr. Shapiro," but suddenly Aunt Ruth stood up announced, "Your Honor I'd like permission to say a few words to my niece and nephew in law."


	19. Chapter 19

Anxious glances were exchanged amongst the Loud siblings while the parents wore confused expressions. Judge Callahan instantly recognized Aunt Ruth as the other woman who accompanied Albert to the bail hearing and smiled warmly at Ruth.

"Hello again Ruth," Judge Callahan greeted, before saying, "I'll grant you permission to speak."

"Objection, I don't think whatever this lady has to say will be relevant to the trial," Mrs. Bolivar declared.

"Objection overruled Ms. Bolivar," Judge Callahan declared.

With a determined expression, Ruth walked confidently up to the podium and stood facing Rita and Lynn Sr. table.

"Ms. Bolivar even though Lincoln was convinced to wear that costume on the beach and making him sleep on the back porch as punishment for lying to get some free time for himself was a foolhardy decision on the part of my niece and nephew in law, you shouldn't condemn them as abusive parents. I know they regret doing it and won't take such extreme measures to punish any of their kids again. Even though they have too many kids in my opinion, at least Rita and Lynn Senior have never allowed them to go hungry and they never physically abused them," Ruth said emphatically.

The parents beamed happily at Aunt Ruth's words but all of a sudden her demeanor changed and proceeded to give Rita and Lynn Sr. a scolding.

"Don't think I'm going to be forgiving of your actions towards my grandnephew and for asking the girls to get involved," she told them.

Without another word, Aunt Ruth returned to her seat.

A few seconds passed before Ms. Bolivar said, "I'd like to call Marvin Bennett to the stand."

"Who the heck is that another neighbor?" Luan whispered to Luna. The Loud children turned their heads around and noticed a chubby boy Lincoln's age with chestnut hair making his way towards the podium. To their astonishment Lincoln, Lynn Jr. and Lori instantly recognized him.

The athlete whispered into Lori's right ear, "That's the boy we accused of bullying Lincoln."

"I know," Lori whispered back.

"Objection, your honor this witness has no relation whatsoever to this case," Mr. Shapiro declared once Marvin stated his name and got sworn in.

A tiny smile crossed Charlene Bolivar's face and she replied, "On the contrary Mr. Bennett has been affected by the wrong actions of the Loud family along with their neighbors."

"Objection overruled, proceed Ms. Bolivar," Judge Callahan responded.

"Do you recognize the Lincoln Loud and his sisters in this courtroom?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

"Y-Yes, they're sitting right in front of me, I used to be in Lincoln's class" Marvin replied nervously.

"Could you tell the court about your unpleasant encounter with the Loud children?" Ms. Bolivar inquired.

Albert thought exasperatedly, "_What on earth did they do to this kid?"_

"I was just walking home from school one day and this angry looking girl wearing a red t-shirt with the number one on it approached me, lifted me by the collar and asked me if I was bullying her brother Lincoln. I said I know Lincoln from school but I'm not bullying him which made her angrier. She then dragged me into her house where I saw the other girls glaring at me and Lincoln. She asked him if I was bullying him, then another girl with blonde hair told me only they were allowed to bully their brother. Lincoln insisted I wasn't the one bullying him and I was let go. While I ran as fast as I could down the stairs I heard Lincoln telling them a girl was the one bullying him," Marvin admitted.

"Oh my God," Rita muttered in embarrassment.

A woman raised her hand in the gallery, "Your Honor I'm Marvin's mother. When my friend Mrs. Francis spoke with me recently about being asked to testify against her neighbors the Louds I remembered Marvin telling me about the incident and asked if he wanted to come here and give his testimony. It's a disgrace that these parents allow their children to be a menace to others in the neighborhood. I should have marched over to their house and give their parents a piece of my mind."

"That's all Mr. Bennett you can step down," Ms. Bolivar asked. Whilst approaching the sisters Marvin walked pass them as quickly as possible.

Next I'd like to call Miss Lori Loud to the stand," Mr. Shapiro declared.

Lori rose with all the confidence she could muster and strode towards the witness stand.

"State your name Please," the bailiff asked

"Lori Marie Loud," she declared. After giving the oath on the bible, Lori sat down.

"Miss Loud you are the first born child in your family am I correct?" Mr. Shapiro asked.

That's correct Mr. Shapiro," Lori replied.

"Whenever your parents are at work, who's left in charge of you and your siblings until they come home?" Mr. Shapiro asked.

"They always leave me in charge Mr. Shapiro, that also includes whenever they go out to enjoy themselves once in a while, they also have date nights the second Friday of each month," Lori admitted.

"Well parents do need to recharge themselves occasionally," he responded.

"How are you able to manage babysitting ten younger siblings?" was his next question.

"I make sure they're kept occupied with various activities, I don't tolerate misbehavior," Lori continued.

"Would you describe your parents as perfect parents?" Mr. Shapiro questioned.

"Of course not, their decision to lock my brother out of his bedroom and make him wear the squirrel suit was just a misguided attempt to punish him for lying, Lincoln we shouldn't have gone to those extremes," Lori said.

"When your parents bought to your attention that your brother was pretending to be bad luck to avoid attending events you and your sisters were participating in, what was your reaction?"

"Naturally I was infuriated because in our family everyone's expected to support each other in their extracurricular activities, that's the reason I went along with my parents with their plan, I even suggested dad forbid Lincoln from coming to the movies with us because of his so called bad luck," she explained.

"You're dismissed Miss Loud,' Mr. Shapiro said but before Lori rose from the chair Ms. Bolivar declared, "I'd like to cross examine the witness," much to the Loud's family astonishment.

"Miss Loud how's it possible that you a teenage girl is capable of making your siblings behave but your parents cannot?" she asked pointedly.

Lori started showing a little nervousness and replied, "I have no idea."

"Your Honor we have a seventeen year old girl whose parents gave her the sole responsibility of babysitting ten rowdy siblings when there's three other teenage daughters who could have assisted her with the babysitting duties," Ms. Bolivar spoke.

Mrs. Bolivar paused to take a breath then asked Lori, "Do you have a social life Miss Loud?"

"Yes Ms. Bolivar I also have a boyfriend and sometimes we go on dates," Lori replied.

"Have you ever resented having to stay home and babysit when you could be on a date with your boyfriend or having fun with your friends?" Ms. Bolivar asked pointedly causing a little apprehension in the teenager.

Lori glanced at her siblings briefly then she allowed a few moments to pass then blurted out, "Sometimes."

Instantly her sisters except Lisa and Lucy became filled with silent rage while their parents glanced at each other with surprise.

I have no more questions, you can step down Miss Loud," Ms. Bolivar stated.

Relieved to be finally done being questioned Lori rushed back to her seat.

"Anymore witnesses to testify," Judge Callahan asked the attorneys.

"Not at this time," Mr. Shapiro replied.

"No Your Honor," Ms. Bolivar responded.

"Court dismissed until eleven a.m. tomorrow," Judge Callahan declared before bringing her gavel down in front of her.

In the parking lot after bidding Albert, Rita and Lynn Sr. goodbye Aunt Ruth and the Louds parted ways.

"What a day," Albert remarked while Lynn Sr. drove the family van towards home.

Meanwhile Luna, Lynn Jr. and the younger girls except Lisa remained stony silent,

Once they stepped inside the house, they saw Melba appearing from the dining room area. Lily was upstairs taking a nap.

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Loud," Melba greeted, "I hope you don't mind but I baked some macaroni and cheese and sausages for dinner."

Lynn Sr. smiled warmly at her, "Thank you Melba,"

"And the little cutie is upstairs taking a nap," she continued.

Once Albert and Rita thanked Melba for being available to babysit, Melba grabbed her bag and left after Lynn Sr. gave her fifty dollars for her babysitting services.

Grateful they could get the opportunity to have dinner a little earlier, the children went upstairs to wash their hands. After eating Lincoln began yawning so he headed upstairs to get a little shut eye before deciding if he should visit Clyde later. An hour later when Lincoln awoke he immediately called Clyde on his walkie talkie. At the present moment his best friend and Ronnie Anne sat in the McBride's living room on the couch watching some kids adventure show on TV. Once the dismissal bell rang that afternoon as Clyde retrieved some belongings from his locker Ronnie Anne approached him and asked if she could hang out with Clyde at his house for the opportunity to discuss matters with Lincoln if he was coming over and Clyde agreed.

Clyde heard the static from his walkie-talkie then Lincoln's voice saying, 'Come in Clyde Lincoln speaking," and snatched up the device laying on the coffee table.

"What's up Buddy, Clyde greeted.

"Hey Clyde we had dinner a little earlier so I'll be coming over right now

"See you buddy, over," Clyde said before signing off and faced Ronnie Anne sitting beside him.

"He'll be here within a few minutes, he told her

They continued watching their show until the doorbell rang and Clyde rushed to answer it.

Before Lincoln got the chance to say hello Clyde whispered, "Ronnie Anne's here she insisted on coming over to speak with you."


	20. Chapter 20

As Lincoln stepped inside the McBride home Clyde closed the door after him and followed Lincoln into the living room.

"Hey Ronnie Anne what's up? "Lincoln greeted causing her to glance away from the TV screen and gave him a somber expression which puzzled him a little.

Ronnie Anne decided to get straight to the point, "Lincoln, haven't you told me the reason you're not coming to school for a while, is there something you don't want me to know about?" she asked bluntly.

The last few days Lincoln had been unsure about when would be the right time to inform Ronnie Anne about everything leading up to his parents now being on trial. His intention was to head over to Ronnie's house and reveal everything to her after visiting Clyde.

Lincoln sat down on the sofa on Ronnie Anne's left side, "This is hard to say but my parents were arrested for child abuse two weeks ago," causing Ronnie Anne's mouth to almost drop on the carpet.

"What, no, they don't seem like abusive parents," Ronnie Anne blurted out.

Lincoln nodded sadly, then admitted, "Lynn wanted me to attend one of her baseball games since I never went to her previous ones. I really wanted a break from attending my sister's events but my family's expected to support each other. After Lynn's team lost she became upset and blamed me for their loss because they won their previous games. She also banned me from attending future games."

Ronnie Anne gave an unexpected chuckle over Lincoln mentioning Lynn's superstitious belief.

"For real, Lincoln I know your sisters can be a little nutty and overbearing but that's just crazy thinking her team didn't win because of you," she declared.

Unbeknownst to the friends, at the moment Harold McBride walked out the master bedroom having woken up from a nap and stopped in his tracks when he overheard Lincoln speaking.

"I really needed some free time so I pretended I was unlucky by playing along with Lynn when she started telling my other sisters not to invite me to their events. My parents figured I was lying when they overheard me and asked my sisters to help teach me a lesson. I couldn't go to the movies with them and Dad made me eat breakfast alone. They boarded up my room after coming home from the movies and made me sleep on the back porch. The next morning when Lynn had another baseball game I had to convince my family I wasn't bad luck so I waited for everyone to leave then went to the stadium and convinced someone to let me wear the team's mascot suit because it's considered a good luck charm. Lynn's team won which convinced them I wasn't unlucky but I didn't expect they would make me wear the costume on a beach trip that afternoon to prevent bad luck from happening."

Ronnie Anne frowned even deeper, she managed to control her emotions.

"While my family were enjoying themselves two beach officers took me to the security office and called my family over the intercom. My parents explained they were only teaching me a lesson for lying to my sisters and were going to let me take off the suit after a few minutes. The next day the police visited our home and questioned our parents then arrested them. My dad's boss bailed them out a few days later. Their trial started yesterday and that's why I won't be coming to school for a while, I was waiting for the right time to tell you," Lincoln ended.

"I understand Lincoln, well I hope they find your parents not guilty," Ronnie Anne replied.

'We have to go back tomorrow at eleven a.m." Lincoln continued then suddenly the children heard Harold's voice.

"Oh my God, Lincoln sorry but I couldn't help overhearing what you said," Harold blurted out.

"Everything I said is true Mr. McBride," Lincoln responded with a serious tone.

You poor kid, if I'd have known earlier Id have asked Richard to represent you,' Harold exclaimed.

Harold's brother Richard McBride was a defense attorney who represented clients who couldn't afford a lawyer for free.

"Well I have to get home for dinner, see you at school Clyde," Ronnie Anne exclaimed then grabbed her skateboard lying next to the couch.

"Bye Ronnie Anne," Lincoln replied.

Once she departed the two boys began playing video games to pass the time until Lincoln went home.

Ronnie Anne skateboarded on the sidewalk with a frown plastered on her face. Everything that Lincoln revealed went through her mind as she continued home.

"I shouldn't even be surprised that control freak Lori went along with it since she forced the double date on us, Bobby has to know about this," Ronnie Anne fumed.

Every once in a while Lincoln would regale his close friend with examples of his family's extreme behavior. On one occasion Lincoln told her about his father being convinced to trade Vanzilla for a new family van and Lynn Sr. becoming very possessive over the new vehicle named Veronica by not allowing anyone inside it unless they wore booties over their shoes and forbidding his mother Rita and Lori from driving it. Lincoln told her eventually they were able to convince his dad to buy back Vanzilla from the used car lot. Another time he told her about the grocery store incident that caused the family to get banned from shopping there for a while.

Minutes later at the Santiago residence, Bobby dressed in his pizza delivery uniform opened the front door when he saw a fuming Ronnie Anne walking up the porch steps.

What in the world the teenage boy wondered

Bobby stepped aside to allow his sister entrance into the house then asked her, "I hope you didn't get into a fight mija."

Ronnie Anne looked him straight in the eyes and blurted out, "Lincoln just told me his meathead sister Lynn invited him to one of her baseball games and became upset when they lost and accused him of making them lose because he didn't go to her previous games. That girlfriend of yours and his family then made him wear a mascot suit on the beach for pretending he was bad luck because he wanted a break from attending his sister's activities. He was rescued by two beach officers and his family were called into the office to explain themselves. The next day his parents were arrested for child abuse. Their trial started on Thursday and that's why Lincoln is not coming to school for a while."

Bobby, almost in tears uttered, 'Oh my God why didn't Lori tell me all about this?"

Ronnie Anne stood there, giving her brother an exasperated look

Bobby stood there in stunned silence for a moment before muttering in a flat tone, "I'm going to be late for work," then rushed out the front door.

Some time passed and Lincoln stopped his video game and told Clyde, "It's getting late, see you buddy."

When Lincoln arrived home, Albert walked out from the living room to greet him.

"Glad you're here Linc, could you wait in the living room, I'm calling a family meeting," Albert asked.

Lincoln obeyed and sat beside Luna on the couch while Albert headed upstairs. Rita and Lynn Sr. sat on dining chairs they carried into the living room.

At the moment Lori and Leni were in their bedroom choosing which outfits to wear the next day when Albert knocked on their bedroom door.

"Girls family meeting right now," he called through the closed door.

Lori knitted her brow wondering 'what now.'

When the two older girls were squeezed next to Luna and Lincoln Albert began.

"I just wanted to discuss some things first of which," he glanced over at Lynn Jr., giving her a serious look.

"Junior how could you drag some random kid home because you assumed he was bullying Lincoln, suppose his parents decided to press charges," he scolded the athletic girl.

"Because if someone outside this family messes around with us they must pay with a beatdown," Lynn Jr. replied arrogantly.

"So threatening a total stranger of bullying Lincoln without any proof was okay," Albert proclaimed.

"All right Pop-Pop we made a mistake of jumping to conclusions," Lori said.

The gathering was suddenly interrupted by the doorbell ringing and someone shouting, "Open up Louds this is the police."

A sudden rush of fear overtook the children and Rita and they looked at each other worriedly.

Lynn Sr. rushed towards the door and looked through the keyhole and saw two policemen, one wearing plainclothes standing there on the porch.

"Evening officers may I help you," he answered cheerfully upon opening the door.

The uniform wearing officer greeted Lynn Sr. "Good evening, my name's Officer Brady, and this is Detective Sanders we have authorization to make an additional search of the premises," then presented a warrant to Lynn Sr.

"What for?" the father could only manage to whisper.

"We want to make sure there's no incriminating evidence remaining that could send you to prison," Detective Sanders replied.

They immediately headed upstairs and the first bedroom they stepped in was Lisa's. Detective Sanders immediately noticed Lisa's filing cabinet and saw the words, "Bathroom Log," written on the front on the second drawer.

"Why is this child keeping tabs on the family's bathroom habits," he wondered.

He opened the second drawer and saw a burgundy color journal with the words, "Sister Fight Protocol Rules and Regulations," by Lisa M. Loud in collaboration with Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, and Lola Loud written on the cover.

Swiftly he placed the journal in a backpack he brought along, thinking that information in the book could contain evidence that could find the parents guilty or innocent.

"What the heck," Detective Sanders heard his partner yell and rushed over.

Sure enough he saw Officer Brady holding one of Lisa's slide of fecal matter belonging to Lana and turned up his nose.

"There is definitely something mentally wrong with these children, "Detective Sanders thought and Officer Brady quickly returned the slide back to its place and closed the drawer.

Next Detective Sanders went into Lynn's bedroom while Officer Brady went into Lincoln's. Officer Brady glanced around briefly and noticed the toy airplanes and Ace Savvy posters and the large robot standing on his dresser. They searched under his bed and inside the dresser drawers but found nothing incriminating. Officer Brady glanced at Lincoln's calendar hanging on the door with last month's page still showing with most of the days filled with every single event the Loud sisters participated in that Lincoln was expected to attend.

"Talk about today's kids being overbooked," he thought with dismay, then realized something.

"This could be used as evidence," he thought, before tearing out the page and putting it in his backpack.


	21. Chapter 21

**Authors Note: This chapter has been updated **

Detective Sanders met Officer Brady making his departure from Lynn and Lucy's bedroom in the hallway and asked, "Have you found anything?"

"No but one of the teenage girls is a Goth and there's a coffin beside her bed," Officer Brady reported.

Detective Sanders repeated, "A coffin?" in utter disbelief.

His partner replied, "My teenage nephew is a Goth and has one," he also spied Lucy's black notebook lying on her bed with "Lucy's Poems," written on the cover but ignored it.

Their next destination was Luna and Luan's bedroom. Meanwhile the family and Albert sat silently, anticipating that the officers wouldn't discover anything of importance to remove from the house.

"Just musical instruments and comedy props," Officer Brady thought then walked over to the closet and found nothing. A few months ago Luan had gotten rid of every video cassette containing Lincoln's embarrassing moments.

"Let's search the next bedrooms then the bathroom," Detective Sanders said.

Officer Brady entered the twin's bedroom while his partner walked over to Lori and Leni's room and was surprised to see a security system on the outside.

"Why would they allow their kids to have a personal security system for their room?" he wondered before walking inside.

Detective Sanders first searched under Lana's bed and found her toolbox underneath and nothing else. Next he peeped under Lola's princess bed and he pulled out a pink journal with the words, "Sibling Secrets to blackmail them," on the cover. Shaking his head in amazement the officer thought, "Like I said, something wrong with these kids," before placing it back then continued searching.

Afterwards both Officers searched the bathroom but found nothing

Back downstairs the Officers entered the master bedroom where Officer Brady glanced at the calendar behind the door and noted last month's page hadn't been removed showing the same dates circled on Lincoln's calendar with the events they attended for each girl scribbled down.

After a thorough search of the basement yielded nothing of importance, they decided to stop searching.

"We're done here," Officer Brady told the family, "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

The parents walked with the officers to the front door where Rita locked it behind them. Breathing sighs of relief, the parents rejoined the others.

Albert spoke next, "Well time to take a shower and turn in, night kiddos."

Later Albert and the sisters were sound asleep and Rita and Lynn Sr. watched an old movie on Rita's laptop in the master bedroom. In Lincoln's bedroom, he was experiencing a little difficulty falling asleep and was reading an Ace Savvy comic. At present Clyde lay in bed watching ARGGH on his TV. Howard McBride who returned home late due to working overtime just finished dinner and settled on the couch to watch the nightly news when Clyde approached him and sat beside him.

"Dad thank goodness you're sitting down, I have to inform you that Lincoln's parents were arrested two weeks ago for child abuse for making Lincoln stand in a squirrel suit at the beach," Clyde began.

Instantly the somewhat high strung man's face paled then he gasped in astonishment, then positioned his right hand over his heart. Few seconds passed before the flabbergasted man responded.

"Oh my goodness," Howard exclaimed in disbelief, "Why would they do such a terrible thing?"

"Lincoln tricked his family by pretending to be unlucky because he needed a break from attending his sisters events after Lynn Junior accused him of making her lose a baseball game, he told me about having no free time for himself for five weeks because he had to support his sisters," Clyde explained.

"That is just unbelievable!" Howard responded, his heart rate beginning to slow down.

"The trial continues tomorrow morning at eleven," Clyde replied, then Harold who just finished with an important phone call walked into the living room with a somber expression.

"I just received a call from a Mr. Shapiro, the defense attorney representing Rita and Lynn Sr. He asked if Clyde would be available tomorrow to testify on behalf of the family," Harold announced.

"How did he get our number?" Howard asked inquiringly.

"He contacted Mrs. Johnson and asked her if Lincoln had any close friends who could give testimony and she gave him our phone number," Harold explained

Instantly Howard became unsure about his son taking the witness stand.

"Dad, I'd really like to testify since Lincoln's my best friend after all," Clyde declared.

"I think he should Howie," Harold added.

Howard sighed in resignation then placed a hand on Clyde's left shoulder and replied, "All right dear you have my permission."

Clyde felt his eyes getting heavy with tiredness and decided it was time for bed after choosing a suit in his closet to wear tomorrow.

"Good night dads," he said before releasing a yawn.

"Good night Clyde, sleep tight," Howard replied affectionately.

Harold sat beside Howard and waited until he heard Clyde's bedroom door closing before speaking.

"Dear I'm worried, what if the Judge finds Rita and Lynn guilty," he surmised.

Howard released a gasp of horror upon realizing what could happen to the Loud kids if their parents were sentenced to prison.

"It's too unpleasant to think about those kids getting separated," Howard remarked.

"We have to be realistic Howie, if that happens, I'm thinking we could have Lincoln live with us and probably one of the girls," Harold said next.

A sudden memory flashed across Howard's mind, making him shudder. A few months ago the sisters practically invaded their home one Thursday evening seeking Howard and Harold's assistance regarding their hobbies. The end result were the husbands almost having nervous breakdowns caused by rushing from each sister to help them practice and in Lori's case, Howard helped her with a quiz in a fashion magazine and Lisa caused a small explosion with some chemicals. Having enough of the sisters being noisy and demands for attention, Harold blew a whistle and told them politely he was sorry it was time for them to get home because it was almost Clyde's bedtime. Once the sisters packed their belongings Harold drove them home, being careful not to pass the speed limit. Arriving at the Loud residence, Harold sped away once the sisters exited the van. It was sweet relief to Howard upon hearing complete silence seconds after the sisters departure. The next day, he called Lynn Sr. to come over and retrieve Lola's toy car since it had been forgotten in Harold's haste to take the sisters home.

Howard's reaction didn't go unnoticed by his husband, "Howie I know Lincoln's sisters are an acquired taste but…"Harold stated before getting interrupted.

"Hare bear you can't be serious," the taller dad said incredulously.

"Howie, I'm thinking we could take Lucy," Harold stated but Howard remained doubtful about his partner's suggestion.

Harold released a sigh and departed for the couple's bedroom to choose a suit to wear and steam press for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Aunt Shirley and her husband Ethan were enjoying a late dinner at their colonial style home in Huntington Oaks. Ethan Maxwell, the Principal of a school in their town, had worked overtime to complete some matters regarding the upcoming graduation of the senior students.

"Ethan, Lynn called me this evening and asked me if we could both attend the trial tomorrow to offer moral support," Shirley suddenly remarked.

Ethan swallowed the last bite of goulash then replied, "Sounds like a good idea, Shirley."

"The trial starts at eleven a.m. so we have to leave around ten," Shirley continued.

Ethan remained in deep thought for a moment, then remarked, "You know, if heaven forbid Rita and Lynn are found guilty, their kids could be separated."

"Let's hope the Judge finds them innocent," Shirley replied. After dinner, Ethan retired to bed while Shirley watched the local news report.

The next morning….

Lori stirred awake thirty minutes before her alarm clock was scheduled to go off. Whilst the other siblings asleep Lori lay in bed wondering about her boyfriend Bobby who just recovered from a sore throat five days ago. The teenage boy had been kept in the dark by his girlfriend about her family's situation since Lori hesitated to inform him in fear of another breakup happening between them.

Lori sighed, then chastised herself," Stop being a coward and explain the situation to Bobby in a certain way that will not make him upset."

Lori decided to check her text messages since she was too occupied regarding the trial yesterday to check her phone and grabbed it from her night stand. She recognized her boo-boo bears number then read the text message.

"_Lincoln just told Ronnie Anne this afternoon about what your family did, how could you go along with your parents and sisters by making Lincoln wear a mascot suit on the beach as punishment. Just please don't get angry at Lincoln for telling my sister."_

Surprisingly Lori breathed a sigh of relief after returning her phone on the table.

"Trust him to inform Ronnie Anne," Lori thought wryly. The teenager rested her head on the pillow once again and glanced upwards at the ceiling.

"Well Bobby is still sleeping, I'll find somewhere quiet to talk with him before we leave," she thought. Whenever Bobby worked nights delivering pizza, his shift ended at three a.m. Lori instantly dozed off and awoke when her alarm sounded.


	22. Chapter 22

Later that morning when everyone finished breakfast, those who showered the night before began getting ready while Lincoln and the sisters except Lily and Lori waited in the long bathroom line. Today Aunt Ruth would be babysitting Lily the second time. Lincoln became lost in thought about who the attorneys would put on the stand to testify today until Luna, standing behind him tapped him on his right shoulder as Leni exited the bathroom.

"Bro it's your turn," she whispered so the boy rushed inside.

Lori, already dressed and wearing makeup passed them carrying her cell phone. She exited the house and stood beside the garage to avoid anyone inside hearing her speak. On Saturdays Bobby also worked at the supermarket from 11 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Bobby finished brushing his teeth after breakfast and heard his phone ring. Anticipating the call to be Lori's, he answered quickly.

"Hi boo…" Lori began nervously

"Lori, what was running through your family's mind, punishing Lincoln for lying because he wanted some free time? He could have suffered a heat stroke on the beach. I know your family sometimes takes things too seriously but this is outrageous," Bobby scolded.

"If it makes you feel better, we all regretted doing it, now mom and dad might go to prison because of it," Lori replied in a regretful tone.

"I really hope you're sorry, Lincoln is always sacrificing his own time to support you and your sisters," Bobby remarked

A couple seconds of awkward silence passed before the teenage girl asked Bobby weakly, "Does this mean we're through?"

Her beau rubbed his temples then replied, "I-I just don't know, but it's best if we don't speak with each other for a while."

"All right," Lori replied sadly. After hanging up, she returned inside the house.

In Royal Woods, Charlene Bolivar resided in the exclusive community of Royal Springs. At the moment she was almost dressed and soon ready to depart for the courthouse. At nine p.m last night, she received a call from the Royal Woods police Chief informing her about the Loud family home being searched for more evidence of child abuse. She was astonished upon being told the police officers found questionable evidence found in certain rooms. Ms. Bolivar became concerned about the Loud children after being told about the police finding the calendars showing the busy schedule for the sisters in the parents and Lincoln's rooms. She decided to call her neighbor, a pediatrician after hanging up and asked her to come to the trial tomorrow, to which her neighbor readily agreed.

Lisa waited patiently for her older sister's return in Lori and Leni's bedroom. Moments ago, on a hunch the genius decided to look inside the file cabinet where the Sister Fight Protocol journal was kept and discovered it missing. She immediately knew the police had taken it and just wanted to confirm with Lori if it was something to be concerned about.

"Do you need my help Lisa?" Lori asked a little puzzled as she entered the bedroom.

The stoic four year old began, "Yes, It seems during the search of our residence by the police yesterday evening they confiscated the journal containing the Sister Fight Protocol and the chart that I kept inside."

Somehow, Lori remained unfazed upon hearing that information, causing Lisa to wonder why she wasn't reacting negatively.

Lori responded calmly, "Lisa I'm definitely sure if the police reads it they'd think it's just a creative method of handling our disputes and think it's harmless girl stuff."

"Are you positive about that?" Lisa asked still unsure.

"Yes, definitely," Lori replied.

Just then Leni entered the room to get dressed and Lisa exited the room quietly.

Sometime later the Loud family and Albert were ready to leave and gathered in the living room waiting for Aunt Ruth to arrive which luckily only took three minutes.

Rita hurried to answer the doorbell and Ruth stepped inside.

"Good morning Ruthie," Rita greeted.

The elderly woman her brother with, "Good Morning Albert."

Lily woke up late so feed her lunch at 12:30, her lunch is on the second shelf of the fridge with her name," Rita instructed.

"I wish you good luck Rita and you too Lynn," Ruth replied.

Outside everybody climbed aboard Vanzilla, with Lincoln taking the sweet spot and Lucy the seat beside her brother. During the ride, everyone remained in a solemn mood with Rita hoping that today would end on a positive note. Meanwhile the McBride's were almost ready to leave but Howard was giving instructions to their cat sitter who arrived a little behind schedule.

Don't feed them too much Howard instructed the lady.

Harold peeped inside Clyde's bedroom and noticed his son frantically looking around his bedroom.

"What are you searching for Clyde?" Harold asked his son.

"I can't find my glasses," the boy replied.

"You probably left them in your bathroom," Harold suggested, and Clyde rushed into the room mentioned and found them on the sink. Seconds later, with Howard driving the McBride's started their journey.

Eventually the Loud family arrived at the courthouse. Lynn Sr. found a parking space that was a little shaded by trees. Inside the courtroom, they noticed Ms. Bolivar studiously perusing some papers laid out before her and Mr. Shapiro seated at the defendants table. Sitting in the third row in the gallery was an unknown Hispanic female who was Ms. Bolivar's neighbor.

"Good morning Mr. Shapiro," Rita greeted warmly

"Morning Mr. and Mrs. Loud," Mr. Shapiro replied.

Two minutes later Lincoln happened to turn around and became surprised to see Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan entering the courtroom

"Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan are here," Lincoln whispered in Luna's left ear.

Then the bailiff entered the courtroom followed by Judge Callahan seconds later.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Callahan," the bailiff announced

After the Judge was seated everyone returned to their seats then the bailiff said, "Court is now in session."

Judge Callahan looked at everyone with a serious expression then stated, "Let's begin where we left off from yesterday. Call your first witness, Mr. Shapiro."

"My first witness is Dr. Arnold Feinstein," he announced making the Loud children gasp in wonder and Rita looking puzzled

Rita's former boss entered the courtroom and smiled at her briefly after taking the witness seat.

Mr. Shapiro cleared his throat then began, "Dr. Feinstein, as your former employee, what was Mrs. Loud's job title?"

"Mrs. Loud was employed as a Dental Assistant. Ten years ago Rita was sent by the Head of the Royal Woods Community College dental school as a student to gain work experience which is a requirement for all dental students. I hired her two days before she graduated," Dr. Feinstein explained.

"Your patients include both adults and children, but mostly children. What kind of person was Mrs. Loud towards the children during their visits?" the defense attorney inquired.

"Rita showed a lot of patience towards them and spoke kindly to the children who were apprehensive about visiting the dentist," Dr. Feinstein replied.

"Overall would you say Rita Loud was an exemplary employee**?" **Mr. Shapiro asked.

"Absolutely, that's why I was astonished upon finding out she was arrested for child abuse. That's the reason I had to let her go," Dr. Feinstein said.

"You can step down Doctor," Mr. Shapiro told him.

Dr. Feinstein stopped in front the Loud parents on his way out and muttered, "Good Luck to both of you."

"Thanks Dr. Feinstein," Rita muttered.

Judge Callahan continued, "Would you call your first witness Ms. Bolivar."

"I'd like to call Dr. Julietta Ramirez to the stand," she announced. The Hispanic woman sitting in the third row approached the witness stand.

After Dr. Ramirez went through the swearing in ceremony, Ms. Bolivar began.

"Doctor Ramirez, recently you wrote an article for the Royal Woods Chronicle describing the negative effects of overscheduling children. Could you explain to the defendants how a child's overall health can suffer if they had to follow a schedule that looks like this?" Ms. Bolivar stated before addressing the bailiff.

"Bailiff could you show Exhibit A?" she requested

After the bailiff turned on the projector, a slide of last month's page from Lincoln's calendar appeared on the screen which startled the eleven year old a little. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan looked at each other with utter disbelief.

As Dr. Ramirez examined the slide, a deep frown appeared on her face before speaking.

"A schedule like that is definitely cause for concern. When children are overscheduled it can lead to exhaustion, irritability, insomnia, falling grades or the kids desire to quit participating in these activities. It's a miracle this boy hadn't collapsed from exhaustion," Dr. Ramirez explained.

Rita placed her right palm over her mouth in shock while her husband sat stone faced. Lori was stunned, she had no idea how she and her siblings were actually overexerting themselves.

"Thank you Doctor Ramirez," Ms. Bolivar said.

"Mr. Shapiro call your next witness," Judge Callahan stated

"Will Clyde McBride approach the stand," he asked, suddenly Clyde's hands became a little sweaty.

Lincoln's heart skipped a beat while the sisters looked astounded while Clyde walked towards the stand.

"State your name for the court," the bailiff stated.

"Clyde Lorenzo McBride," he said boldly.

After being sworn in, Clyde removed his hand from the bible and sat down.

"How long have you been Lincoln's best friend, Mr. McBride?" Mr. Shapiro asked.

Clyde cleared his throat before speaking, "We first met each other six years ago on Halloween night when we accidentally bumped into each other. We have been best friends ever since."

"I assume both of you hang out on the weekends and sometimes after school at each other's houses," Mr. Shapiro asked.

"That's true, sometimes we go to the arcade after school or the weekends," Clyde affirmed.

"Do you get along with Lincoln sisters?' was the next question.

"Yes, they treat me like a second brother," Clyde stated emphatically.

"Have you seen any of them bullying Lincoln or each other when you visit him," Mr. Shapiro asked next.

"No, but sometimes Lincoln tells me about his sisters arguing over silly matters," Clyde stated.

"What about Mr. and Mrs. Loud, do you see them often when you visit?" Mr. Shapiro continued.

"Not really, they're either still at work or sometimes when I visit Lincoln on a Saturday they're out grocery shopping or doing something else," Clyde said.

"Okay Mr. McBride, that's all," the defense attorney concluded.

As Clyde returned to his seat, an unknown man around his mid-thirties walked inside the courtroom with their neighbor Mrs. Francis.

**Authors Note: Luan's collection of Lincoln's embarrassing moments from Making the Case and Lori's security system for her bedroom as seen in Frog Wild were mentioned in the last chapter. **


	23. Chapter 23

**After a long wait due to the Coronavirus, here is the continuation of this story. I can't guarantee frequent updates though.**

The defense attorney Mr. Shapiro smiled with satisfaction upon Clyde's testimony while Judge Callahan drank some water.

"I'd like to call Detective Sanders to the stand before calling my next witness." Ms. Bolivar, rising from her chair continued.

Detective Sanders, a police officer for the past fifteen years of the Royal Woods Police Department stood in front of the Judges podium.

"During a search of the Loud residence we found some documents belonging to Lisa Loud and nine GPS tracking chips. There was a reminder to implant them into her siblings after finishing her latest project," Detective Sanders revealed.

"What!" Rita shouted as Aunt Shirley and Ethan were stunned at what they heard.

"How many times have we've asked you not to use your family as test subjects?" Lynn Sr. scolded Lisa.

Lori and Luna glared intensely at the little genius and Luna asked furiously, "Lise, how could you think of implanting a tracking chip inside our baby sister?"

The stoic, poker faced child she was Lisa replied exasperatedly, "Okay I'll simply remove the two chips I implanted into our parents last month after chloroforming them during their REM cycles tonight."

Lynn Sr. gulped nervously and started probing the sides of his neck with his fingers while Rita maintained a steamed expression on her face.

"We're tired of you violating our privacy," Lori blurted out angrily.

"Yea Poindexter," Lynn Jr. snapped.

"Okay, it's nothing to get worried about, it's a perfectly harmless procedure," Lisa continued.

Judge Callahan became slightly impatient and banged her gavel on the podium three times.

"Girls, that's enough," she exclaimed, then cleared her throat, "Ms. Bolivar you have the floor."

"My next witness is Tyler Nicholson," Ms. Bolivar stated.

Tyler Nicholson, a man around his late twenties with dark brown hair, a nephew of Mrs. Francis stood up. As he approached the witness stand, the sisters looked at each other in bewilderment until Lynn gasped upon recognizing the man's face.

The swearing in process finished he sat down then Ms. Bolivar began her questioning, "Mr. Nicholson, could you tell the court about the encounter you had with Lynn Loud Jr last year?"

"My friend Paul and I were contestants in the Royal Woods Amazing Quest competition. Both of us were minding our own business when she rudely shoved us aside, then ran around gloating about her winning the competition. My friend actually sprained his left ankle on the asphalt when we fell down. Because of her poor sportsmanship Mayor Davis made a public announcement banning the girl permanently from the competition," he stated.

"Do you recognize her anywhere in this courtroom?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

Tyler scanned each of the sisters until his eyes landed on Lynn Jr.

"The girl with the ponytail wearing the purple blouse," Tyler replied referring to Lynn.

Clearly remembering her sister's behavior that day, Lori grumbled under her breath, "Way to go Lynn."

"He's just angry because he was going to lose to a girl," Lynn muttered cockily.

"Some people shouldn't have kids if they cannot teach them how to be gracious winners," Mr. Nicholson said angrily.

"I have no more questions for this witness," Ms. Bolivar stated.

Judge Callahan glanced at her watch then announced, "I call for a ten minute break, court adjourned," then banged the gavel before leaving the courtroom to use a private restroom.

The McBrides and Uncle Ethan followed suit to take a bathroom break while Mr. Shapiro approached the parents with a somber expression that clearly showed he wasn't pleased about the testimony revealed in the courtroom making Rita and Lynn Sr. very apprehensive.

"Come with me please," he requested, then passing by the others Albert asked him, "Wait for us."

Inside a waiting room the family gathered around Mr. Shapiro, his expression still remaining the same. The Attorney waited for three seconds before speaking.

"I'll get straight to the point, Mr. and Mrs. Loud, the testimony given against your daughters have made things a bit more complicated," he admitted.

"Look Mr. Shapiro Lisa just gets carried away with her scientific research sometimes," Rita admitted.

"Do you have any suggestions so my parents can be found innocent?" Lori asked.

"Miss Loud, the only course of action I'd suggest is your parents taking a plea bargain to avoid prison or receiving a lesser sentence of say twelve to fifteen months in prison," he stated.

"You mean my daughter and son in law should admit they're guilty of child abuse," Albert queried.

"You're absolutely right," Mr. Shapiro responded.

The children looked pleased at the suggestion and looked eagerly at their parents.

Rita turned to her husband and urged, "Honey, let's do it."

The father nodded in agreement, "It's a deal," he replied.

"We're one hundred percent in agreement," Luna added.

When everyone walked out of the waiting room with the defense attorney Lori asked, "Does anyone wants to use the bathroom?" and the twins responded in unison, "I do."

"I'll come along too," Lucy added.

Presently Clyde sat on a bench in the courts lobby engrossed with a puzzle game on his cellphone to pass the time. He glanced up in time to see Lincoln approach him and quickly turned off the game then Lincoln sat beside his friend.

"Clyde thank you and your dads for coming to support us," he said.

Clyde replied, "Well best friends have to support each other in difficult times."

Lincoln didn't respond, instead they sat quietly for some minutes then Clyde peeked towards the glass doors and noticed a few dark clouds in the sky and a little rainfall starting.

Suddenly Howard walked over to the boys and remarked, "Only three minutes left, we should go inside."

Back inside the courtroom Harold was already seated when they returned. Everyone remained silent until Judge Callahan reappeared and resumed the court proceedings.

"Would the prosecution call your next witness," Judge Callahan asked.

To the surprise of Clyde, the sisters, Albert, and the Loud parents, Ms. Bolivar announced, "I'd like to call Lincoln Loud to the stand."

Without any nervousness Lincoln walked boldly to the left of the Judge's podium and remained standing as the bailiff approached him carrying the bible.

"State your name son," the bailiff requested.

"My name is Lincoln Loud," the boy declared boldly.

"Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" the bailiff asked solemnly.

Lincoln placed his right palm on the bible "Yes, I do," he replied.

After the bible was removed and the bailiff walked away Lincoln sat down.

With an authoritative air Ms. Bolivar ambled in his direction, stopping a few inches away from Lincoln.

"Mr. Loud, can you remember the events leading up to the day you were forced to wear a mascot costume on the beach by your family?" Ms. Bolivar inquired.

"It started when I wanted a break from attending my sister's activities. I almost made it to my bedroom to hide from them but Lynn was standing at the top of the stairs and asked me if I was coming to her baseball game," Lincoln explained.

"What was your response?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

"I told her pass and that I wanted to stay home and read the latest issue of my Ace Savvy comic, but she asked me if I would reconsider," Lincoln continued.

"Then you stood your ground and told her you weren't going," Ms. Bolivar added.

Lincoln became a bit apprehensive then looked across the room in Lynn's direction for a moment then gave a look of determination.

"I was going to tell her I really needed a break but she made me reconsider by threatening me with her baseball bat," Lincoln admitted, eliciting horrified expressions from Aunt Ruth and Aunt Shirley.

"You must have been terrified when she threatened to physically attack you because you refused to attend her game, am I right?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

"Yes, so I relented and attended the game," Lincoln replied confidently.

"Then after her team lost Lynn accused you of being bad luck then you decided to trick your sisters into believing you were bad luck to avoid going to their events," Ms. Bolivar continued.

"Yes Mrs. Bolivar," he replied, "I realized it was a bad idea when my parents overheard me telling Leni I was unlucky and became skeptical so they started pretending I was bad luck and decided I wasn't allowed to go to fun places with them. Mom decided I shouldn't go to the movies with them and my father made me eat breakfast alone. My room was boarded up and I had to sleep on the back porch. The next morning I was allowed to come in for breakfast and told to eat in the kitchen alone."

"When they left that morning for another game I remembered hearing the team's mascot suit was considered a good luck charm so I went to the stadium and asked the guy wearing it I wanted to borrow the suit to surprise my cousin and he agreed. Only when her team won they believed I was lucky but only when wearing the suit so they forced me to wear it to the beach, then I was rescued by Katie and Josh," Lincoln continued.

"It must have been a relief to remove that costume," she stated and he said, "Yes Ms. Bolivar."

'Now, Mr. Loud," the prosecuting attorney began, then paused for dramatic effect, "Were you the person your sisters were assaulting in the van that early morning?"

Lincoln began to feel uncomfortable sitting there and found difficulty answering the question.

"Mr. Loud, don't be afraid to answer since you're under oath," Ms. Bolivar told Lincoln with a gentle tone, then Lincoln released a sigh.

"Yes it was me," the boy admitted causing Aunt Shirley to deeply frown while her husband looked flabbergasted while Albert merely shook his head in disappointment.

"I just wanted to enjoy a nice road trip for once without having to deal with my sisters antics so I decided to sneak out and claim the best seat before we left at seven a.m. but they found out my plan and confronted me outside so they jumped inside the van and started attacking me, I was lucky that mom heard us and she yelled at us to come inside."

"Is the bullying that goes on in your home something that happens quite often?" was the prosecuting attorneys next question.

"Well, it happens occasionally, but I'm not the only person getting bullied, Luan goes around playing pranks on everyone, we're constantly fighting over the remote control, one time Lori and Leni fought over buying the same dress and roommates clashing with each other. Even I have moments where I'm no angel. One time I decided to coach Lola for a pageant to make sure she won because first prize was two season passes to Dairyland for the coach and winner but Lola got injured before the pageant so I convinced Lana to take her place. One time I was desperate to sell more than my sisters at our annual garage sale so I began selling items inside the house. When my sisters noticed what I was doing they started grabbing stuff to sell. We managed to sell almost everything in the house," Lincoln continued.

"Hmm I see, you can step down." Ms. Bolivar said.


	24. Chapter 24

Lincoln returned to his seat beside Albert feeling relieved his testimony was over. Aunt Shirley sat there in disbelief then Judge Callahan said, "The defense please call your next witness."

"I'd like to call Ms. Lynn Loud to the stand," Mr. Shapiro replied solemnly.

Lucy started looking a bit nervous upon hearing her sister roommates name. Lori became a little nervous.

"I'm Lynn Marie Loud Junior, Royal Woods Middle School's best athlete," she boasted after the bailiff asked to state her name.

After being sworn in Mr. Shapiro began questioning her, "Miss Loud, did you really mean to threaten Mr. Loud with your baseball bat just to convince him to attend your game?"

Lynn Junior sighed, "Yes I'll admit doing that because in our family we believe in always supporting each other and Lincoln was being unsupportive by refusing to attend my baseball game when he's always going to my sister's activities."

"Did your parents punish you for doing that?" Mr. Shapiro asked next.

The teenage athlete frowned at the defense attorney and replied, "Yes, I was grounded from watching TV and talking on my phone and banned from playing all sports even at school, I'm not allowed to return to my sports teams because my parents suddenly decided me and my sisters need a break from our extracurricular activities because we got bad report cards."

"Well Miss Loud sometimes parents have to take drastic measures if their kids get bad grades, when I was your age, I was almost failing some of my classes so my parents forbade me from playing basketball until my grades improved and they hired someone to give me extra tutoring."

"You played basketball?" Lynn asked wide eyed.

"Yes I even received a basketball scholarship to Michigan State University. Miss Loud, I see you take being an athlete seriously," he continued.

"Yes I do," she replied proudly, "I also play basketball, football, lacrosse, ice hockey and roller derby."

"Impressive, but that's no excuse to look down on your siblings who aren't physically strong as you and threaten one with a baseball bat," Mr. Shapiro scolded.

"Okay I shouldn't have used the bat to threaten Lincoln, I realize that was a rash decision," Lynn admitted.

"Yes you shouldn't have," Luna said loudly, but the Judge ignored her outburst.

The defense attorney had no more questions for Lynn so he ended with, "Ms. Loud, you can step down."

Returning to her seat beside her grandfather, Albert whispered to her, "Good job LJ."

During Lynn's testimony, Ms. Bolivar observed the moments when the athlete spoke in a boastful manner.

"Would the prosecution call your next witness," the Judge requested.

"Mrs. Loud would you approach the stand?" Ms. Bolivar asked.

The swearing in process done, Ms. Bolivar asked Rita, "Mrs. Loud, your family believes in supporting each other but having your son leave school early twice in one week to attend two of your daughter's events is not taking his education seriously," the prosecuting attorney said.

"But those were the only times we did that, besides Lincoln manages to keep his grades up regardless," Rita protested.

"Are you familiar with the following document Mrs. Loud," Ms. Bolivar said next, followed by the bailiff loading up the projector screen. A notebook containing the words Sister Fight Protocol Rules– written by Lisa Marie Loud on the front appeared.

Lisa gasped and Lori and Luna whispered in shocked voices, "Oh, no."

"Yes Lisa created the protocol when she thought Lincoln shouldn't be playing the role of peacemaker every time my daughters have arguments and decided they should be solving their disputes without Lincoln's interference," Rita explained.

Ms. Bolivar motioned for the bailiff to show the next exhibit, page two of the protocol.

"Mrs. Loud would you read what's on the screen," she asked.

"In the event of an argument between sisters, the feuding parties can find refuge in these areas on the premises to cool down and to avoid each other. These rooms include, the attic, basement, garage, back porch, bathroom, and," Rita paused in disbelief at the next words then continued, "Lincoln's bedroom."

Her focus turned to her daughters sitting with their grandfather with a disapproving look that suddenly caused the nine girls to become fearful.

"Girls I hope you didn't kick Lincoln out of his room at any time during that argument over the dresses," Rita said sternly, Lori and Luan looked absolutely nervous.

"Girls," Rita repeated with a harsher tone.

"We only kicked him out once. He went over to Clyde's house," Luan lied and Rita shook her head.

It was the prosecuting attorneys turn to address the girls, "What if someone had to use the bathroom urgently and someone was cooling off in there?" she queried.

"One of us would simply knock on the door and ask whoever's in there to get out," Lori said untruthfully.

Ms. Bolivar seemed satisfied with the eldest sister's response and turned her attention back to Rita.

"Do you and your husband ever punish the children for misbehaving?" Ms. Bolivar queried.

"We grounded them for wrecking the van after fighting a second time that morning, when they sold almost everything in the house during that garage sale and for misbehaving when we stayed at the Royal Woods Hotel and Spa for one weekend, the groundings include taking away their phones and sometimes their hobbies," Rita admitted.

"Might I ask why you and Lynn Sr. weren't supervising your children at the garage sale if they sold stuff they weren't supposed to?" the prosecuting attorney asked in disbelief.

"Every year I stay with the kids during the garage sale while my husband stays indoors cooking a celebratory meal but this year I left Lori to supervise everybody because I had to finish making a new dining table for our family. Our children contacted the people that bought our belongings and managed to retrieve mostly everything," Rita explained.

"I'm glad you retrieved most of the items back but it doesn't excuse the fact as parents you should make a better attempt to control your kids," the prosecution said.

"Look we try to establish some level of discipline but Lisa continues writing equations on the walls and uses her siblings as test subjects though we've asked her to stop doing it, we've told Luan to stop playing pranks when she should be getting ready for school, we tell Lynn not to play sports in the house but she does it anyway, and when they get home after school, we can't possibly know what they're up to while we're still working, as parents we just have to choose our battles," Rita replied.

"Mrs. Loud, this free range parenting of yours has been detrimental to your daughters, making them act however they please because they haven't been disciplined properly, just grounding them and taking away their phones and hobbies is not an effective method of punishment for kids like these," Ms. Bolivar said next.

"I have no more to say to the witness," Ms. Bolivar said finally, and Rita returned to her husband's side.

Final judgement

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud please rise," Judge Callahan announced.

"Would you like to plead guilty or not guilty to all charges of child abuse and negligence?" she asked after they stood up.

"Rita and I would like to plead guilty. It was a grievous mistake on our part to think punishing our son in such a manner would teach him a lesson about lying to us," Lynn Sr. said.

"I'll take your plea bargain into consideration, Mr. Loud," the Judge told him.

"Mr. Shapiro is there anything else you'd like to say before I pass judgment?" Judge Callahan asked.

Mr. Shapiro began, "Your Honor, no parent is perfect despite the fact society tells them and Mr. and Mrs. Loud are no exception. They decided on punishing their son in such an unusual way but weren't aware that someone else would have considered it child abuse. They happen to be doting parents who show absolute love and care for all their children, they just made huge mistakes regarding their wellbeing. I ask you Judge Callahan to find them not guilty of all charges and send them home with their children."

"Does the prosecutor have a closing statement before I pass judgement," Judge Callahan declared.

Ms. Bolivar stood before the Judge after adjusting her eyeglasses.

"I see Mr. and Mrs. Loud as ineffective parents who failed to notice one of their own children being singled out by his siblings for physical and emotional abuse, parents who are too spineless to instill good manners and discipline in their daughters, instead they focused on how many awards and trophies their daughters won and praising them while ignoring the only boy in the family. That's why we have a child genius using family members as test subjects against their will while they sleep, a six year old eating out of garbage cans, a self-absorbed, aggressive girl who forces her brother to attend her baseball game by threatening him with her bat and shoving people at a community event, inconsiderate and out of control girls who disturb their neighbors by fighting over a car seat in the early morning and misbehaving in public places. They are a perfect example of kids spoiled by their parents who think the world revolves around them," Ms. Bolivar stated.

The Judge pondered over Ms. Bolivar's statement for a few seconds then made her decision.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, before I pass sentence, I've never heard such awful examples of sibling abuse. If you made better decisions about raising your kids, all this bedlam and negligence wouldn't have happened. I'm hereby sentencing both of you to fourteen months for the abuse of your son and an additional two months for neglecting your younger daughters welfare," Judge Callahan declared.

Rita gasped in disbelief then her husband sitting to her right placed his arm around her shoulder. Lisa sat quietly as the twins and Lucy began shedding soft tears.

"This cannot be happening," Lori whispered, then wrapped a comforting arm around Lana.

"I'm also relieving you of your parental duties except in the case of Lori, Leni, and Luna," she continued.

"No please you can't do that," Rita protested in tears

"Upon your release from prison, you'll be required to attend parenting classes and get your life back on track before you'll be allowed to gain custody of your children," the Judge added.

"Lynn Jr. would you approach the bench?" the Judge announced next.

Puzzled by such a request, Lynn obeyed instantly and stood before her. Judge Callahan's next words would astonish everybody in the courtroom.

"Lynn Jr, it's apparent that most of your aggressiveness is a direct result from your participation in many contact sports, therefore I'm sentencing you to two months in the Hazelwood Juvenile Detention Center for assault and battery and threatening your brother with a bat," she announced.

The Loud parents and Leni gasped in horror then Lynn Jr. began protesting, "But I apologized to Lincoln."

"Your Honor, I know our daughter acts impulsively at times but she's not a bad person," Lynn Sr. protested in defense of his namesake.

"Mr. Loud, your daughter also dragged a kid to your home against his will because she thought he was bullying your son," the Judge reminded the father before addressing the athlete once again.

"Lynn Jr your sentence will begin three days after you graduate middle school."


	25. Chapter 25

Outside, the skies were now clearing up and the rain ceased falling as Lynn Jr returned to her seat in a dejected mood and Judge Callahan continued sentencing.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, I have decided that you'll serve time at the Kingsley Detention Center in Hazeltucky.

"I'm also granting the children's grandfather Albert custody of your other kids until suitable homes are found for them," she added.

What Judge Callahan said next was totally unexpected by everyone in the room and even Clyde himself. Howard and Harold glanced at each other in anticipation.

"Mr. and Mr. Harold McBride, will you approach the bench" she requested.

The husbands looked at each other eagerly and stood before the Judge in anticipation.

"Mr. and Mr. McBride I am hereby granting permission for you to become the legal guardians of Lincoln and Lucy Loud until the age of eighteen," she announced, making Rita gasp in disbelief.

Howard and Harold kept their composure and mentally cheered at their victory as Shirley and Ethan glanced at each other.

_That morning while Howard McBride cooked breakfast and Clyde showered, Harold entered the study and began calling Judge Callahan._

"_This is Judge Callahan, how may I help you," she replied upon answering the phone._

"_Good morning, Your Honor, I'm Harold McBride your secretary told me if Howard and I had any questions about having Clyde testify that we should call you," Harold said._

"_Mr. McBride, if your son got nervous about testifying he doesn't have to," she replied sympathetically. _

"_Oh Clyde wants to, but last night my husband Howard and I agreed on taking in Lincoln and Lucy and becoming their legal guardians until they reach the age of eighteen if their parents are sent to prison," Harold explained._

"_Okay we'll see what happens, see you at the trial," she responded, before hanging up._

Albert, Lincoln and his sisters, especially Lucy sat there in astonishment at this sudden turn of events. Lincoln couldn't believe Clyde's dads would consider taking in one of his sisters due to the past incident when the girls visited their home and demanded so much attention from the McBride's.

"We'd like to obtain legal guardianship as quickly as possible," Harold continued.

The trial was now over but Aunt Shirley suddenly interrupted the Judge before she could strike the gavel.

"One moment Your Honor," Aunt Shirley said hurriedly.

"Could you state your name?" Judge Callahan inquired.

"Your Honor, my name is Mrs. Shirley Maxwell, the children's Aunt. My husband Ethan and I'd like to petition the court to get temporary custody of Luan, Lynn Jr. Lana, Lola, and Lisa. We can assure you we'll provide the proper home environment for the girls. Our house has three bedrooms and we would turn our study into another one for Lynn Jr.," Aunt Shirley spoke, astonishing the Loud family.

"Permission granted," Judge Callahan declared, "First you'll have to obtain an Order Granting Petition for Temporary Custody by Extended Family then contact a lawyer."

"We'll contact a lawyer as soon as possible to start the process," Uncle Ethan added.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud I'll grant you a few moments with your children," the Judge said.

The parents rose from their seats and stood before their kids and Pop-Pop.

"Kids please listen to everything Pop-Pop tells you to, and Lori," Rita said tearfully, then hesitated a bit before continuing, "We'd like you to go to the prom and enjoy yourself."

"I-I will mom," Lori replied, willing herself not to break down.

"Albert I'm instructing you to pay the bills, the electric bill is due on Wednesday," Lynn Sr. added.

"Kids, you don't have to return to school until Tuesday," Rita said.

The officers remained stone faced while Judge Callahan looked upon the scene impassively and the Maxwell's were leaving the courtroom. Ms. Bolivar stuffed a few papers in her briefcase before departing.

"Court adjourned," the Judge declared before striking the gavel for a final time then made her departure.

With sadness, the children watched as two male police officers handcuffed then escorted their parents towards another entrance of the courtroom. Rita glanced back at her kids briefly, her face sporting a regretful expression.

In desperation the twin girls wailed to the officers, "Please don't take them, we promise to behave," making the parents heartbroken.

Albert and his grandchildren remained seated watching Rita and Lynn Sr. until they disappeared through the other door before Mr. Shapiro, sporting a poker face, approached them.

"I'm really sorry kids your parent's plea bargain didn't work," he said regretfully.

"You don't have to apologize, Mr. Shapiro," Albert replied.

"What about Lily, who's going to take her," Lincoln thought worriedly.

Mr. Shapiro held out his right hand towards Albert and said, "Here's my card, if there's anything else you need me to assist you and your grandchildren with, call me."

Albert placed the attorney's card in his shirt pocket and replied, "Thank you."

"Take good care of them, goodbye kids," were Mr. Shapiro's last words before departing.

"Let's go," Albert said in a low voice filled with total disappointment. Lori grabbed her handbag then Rita's own that was handed to her before the trial started, reached into her mother's bag and removed the car keys to Vanzilla.

"Pop-Pop, could you drive us home, I'm not in the mood to get behind the wheel," Lori requested.

"Sure Lori," Albert replied then Lori handed him the keys.

Lana and Lola were now sniffling and Lisa remained her usual expressionless face but she was actually feeling sadness and regret while Leni wiped away a few tears and there was a melancholic expression on Lincolns face.

The general mood amongst everyone as Albert drove towards home was disheartening to say the least. Lynn Jrs. mind wasn't focused on her impending sentence that would begin in three weeks but on having regrets about her actions that ultimately sent her parents to prison.

"If it wasn't for that baseball game, all this wouldn't have happened," Lynn Jr. thought regretfully. Meanwhile Lucy sat in the sweet stop simply stared out the window, melancholy as usual. Lori sat beside Albert in silence and peered over her shoulder at her younger siblings sitting behind her observing them for a moment. Albert felt exhausted and wasn't in the mood to fix dinner.

"I'll get one of the take out menus," he thought.

Aunt Ruth just woke up from sleeping on the couch minutes ago and was watching television after checking on Lily upstairs when Albert unlocked the front door. By the doleful expressions on everyone's faces when they walked inside the house, an uneasy feeling came over Aunt Ruth. Albert then looked at his sister and shook his head.

"Ruth, they were found guilty, the Judge gave them sixteen months," Albert told her gloomily.

"Oh, no," she uttered, then placed her right hand over her chest.

A few seconds of silence passed, then Lori said, "They also lost temporary custody of us except me, Leni and Luna," and Aunt Ruth's face turned a little pale.

"The Judge also granted the parents of Lincoln's friend Clyde legal guardianship of him and Lucy until they reach eighteen, and Shirley and Ethan are taking the rest except Lily," Albert explained.

Aunt Ruth replied, "Well at least they're not going to strangers."

"It's getting late, thanks for looking after Lily, Ruthie," Albert said.

Aunt Ruth retrieved her purse from the small table beside the sofa and replied, "She wasn't any trouble."

After Albert escorted his sister to the front door, he waited until Aunt Ruth got behind the wheel of her car and drove away before locking the door. Lucy had disappeared during the conversation and her siblings sat broken hearted on the couch.

"Kids I'm just going to order something from Haley's Kitchen, what should I get," he asked.

"I don't feel very hungry Pop-Pop," Luan replied dejectedly.

"Me too," Luna and Leni added.

The other children simply just followed Luan, Luna and Leni upstairs. Albert decided to order dinner anyway in case his grandkids felt the inclination to eat something later. He walked into the kitchen to retrieve the menu from the aforementioned diner. In Lincoln's bedroom the eleven year old kicked off his shoes before lying down on his bed.

"I'll eat something later," Lincoln thought.

Exhausted Lincoln rested his head on the pillow and merely stared at the ceiling until he needed to use the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Leni and Lori rested on their beds, with Lori wondering if she should call Bobby later on to inform him about the trial's outcome.

"I'll just wait until tomorrow and call Bobby," Lori thought before falling asleep.

Albert had dozed off on the couch while waiting for the food to arrive, the doorbell ringing had woken him from his slumber. After paying the delivery woman, Albert ate some of the baked chicken, mashed potatoes and salad. Later Lincoln woke up from a short nap and saw his grandfather asleep on the sofa. After warming some of the food, Lincoln joined Luna who arrived before him at the dining table where the siblings ate in silence. Eventually Lori and the twins came downstairs and Lori placed some of the food on paper plates for the twins then for herself.

Lincoln returned to his bedroom after putting his paper plate into the trash bin and changed into his orange PJs.

Sunday

It was noon the following day when Lincoln eventually awoke with sunlight shining through the little window of his bedroom. He waited a few seconds before leaving the comfort of his bed and stepped into the hallway. Passing by the twin's bedroom, he could hear soft crying from behind the door and curiosity made Lincoln peek inside where he observed Lana standing beside the terrarium where Hops was sleeping. Lincoln went up to the older twin to comfort her.

"Hey Lana, what's the matter?" he began.

Lana turned around to face her only brother and sniffled.

"Suppose Aunt Shirley doesn't want me to bring my pets when I move in with her," Lana declared sadly.

Knowing that his Aunt wasn't a great animal lover, Lincoln knew she wasn't a cold hearted person to tell Lana to give her remaining pets away.

'Lana, I bet she won't object to your keeping them if you promise her they won't be a trouble to her," Lincoln reassured her.

"Thanks Lincoln," Lana replied then embraced him.

Lincoln rushed downstairs to have a late breakfast, meanwhile in her bedroom Lori was calling Bobby.

**A/N: In the next chapter, Lily's future will be revealed**


	26. Chapter 26

**Before we continue with how the children and Albert are coping during the aftermath of the trial…**

After the trial…

Rita and Lynn Sr. weren't in good spirits as the police van journeyed towards the town of Hazeltucky. Dejected about the outcome of the trial, they remained silent until the police officer driving addressed the couple about the facility they'll spend the next eighteen months.

"You folks are fortunate, Kingsley's a detention center for child abusers and child molesters. You'll be living among your own kind," the officer said bluntly.

"M-Molesters," Lynn Sr, said suddenly becoming scared just like Rita.

"Don't worry you'll be separated from the sex offenders. They are housed in a separate building with their own courtyard and lunchroom. You won't cross their paths," the officer continued.

Upon Rita and Lynn Seniors arrival at the Kingsley Detention Center, they were separated into different rooms by the police officers to be strip searched, afterwards the couple were issued light blue prison jumpsuits which they were ordered to change into, then were escorted to the second floor which was reserved for couples where Rita was placed into a cell in the female section.

After glancing around the small but cozy room, Rita sighed with despair before settling down on the cot and rested her chin in her hands.

"Why did we get ourselves into this mess," Rita muttered miserably.

Meanwhile Lynn Sr. glanced at the lavatory in the left corner of his cell and squirmed a little. Lying down on the cot with his head on the pillow the father of eleven exhaled deeply.

"How could Rita and I be so misguided," he lamented.

Back to the present…

Earlier that morning, Lori had woken up around ten a.m. The night before everybody went to bed way earlier than when they usually did on Saturdays. After dinner, Lori placed the uneaten portion of the meal in the refrigerator. Since there weren't too many items to wash, Lori washed everything in the sink before retiring to bed. Albert was still asleep on the couch when she passed by.

This morning after having a late breakfast with Pop-Pop fixing pancakes for everyone, Lori helped Luan wash the dishes, had a shower, then waited until she knew Bobby, Ronnie Anne and their mother returned from church by tidying her side of the bedroom. Leni sat before her sewing machine working on Lori's prom dress. Leni should have continued sewing the dress weeks ago but was unable to because of her involvement in the charity fashion show.

Lori was sitting upright on her bed dialing Bobby's number, knowing he arrived home five minutes ago.

Bobby just changed out of his church attire when his cell phone rang. He noticed Lori's number and became a little nervous.

"Hi Bobby," she answered.

"Hey Lori, I hope its good news," Bobby asked.

"No it's not, my parents were found guilty, the Judge gave them sixteen months," Lori said in despair.

"No way," Bobby uttered in absolute shock.

Lori continued, "They also lost temporary custody of us except me, Leni and Luna and the Judge granted Clyde's dads legal guardianship of him and Lucy until they reach eighteen, and our Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan are taking the rest except Lily. Lynn was sent to juvie for threatening Lincoln and for being aggressive towards others. My parents also told me to attend prom but I don't know even though I was looking forward to going."

"Lori you should go to prom, your folks probably want you to enjoy yourself instead of staying home and fret about them being in prison. Even though we've temporarily broken up, I'll take you," Bobby reassured.

Lori smiled at his words of kindness and replied, "Okay I'll go, pick me up at five thirty on Thursday."

"I'll tell Ronnie Anne and mami everything. See you at school bye," Bobby said before pressing the off button on his phone.

Suddenly Lori heard knocking on her door and saw Albert standing there Lori asked, "Yes Pop-Pop."

Albert scratched a little itch behind his head then spoke, "Harold McBride just called, he's coming over here with his husband in thirty minutes," before leaving. After breakfast Lincoln was about to step into the bathroom when Lori stopped him.

"Hey Lincoln you don't have to call Ronnie Anne, I called Bobby and told him everything and he said he'll tell Ronnie and his mom," Lori said.

"All right Lori," Lincoln responded.

Bobby dashed into the kitchen where Ronnie Anne and his mother Maria were making their own BLT sandwiches for an after church snack. There was one set aside for Bobby already.

"Nalda, mami, Lori just called me," Bobby began, he somehow dreaded how his mother was going to handle the terrible news he was about to relay.

Knowing instantly why Lori called, Ronnie Anne felt her heart beat going a little faster.

"Its bad news mami, the Judge found Lori's parents guilty of all charges, they were given sixteen months," he announced.

"Oh Dios mío!" Maria exclaimed then pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and quickly sat down.

"They also lost temporary custody of their kids except Lori, Leni and Luna and Clyde's dads received legal guardianship of Lincoln and Lucy until they're eighteen. Her Aunt Shirley and Uncle Ethan are taking the rest except Lily."

Maria had a look of distress on her face while Ronnie Anne stood there. An awkward silence followed for a few moments before Bobby continued.

"Her sister Lynn was also sent to juvie for threatening Lincoln and for being aggressive towards others."

Ronnie Anne mentally rejoiced upon hearing the athlete receiving a juvenile sentence. Lincoln's revelation about getting threatened with a bat made her unsympathetic towards her sentence.

"Poor Lily, what's going to happen to her?" Maria lamented.

"Mami I'm positive they will find someone to take her," Bobby reassured her then washed his hands in the sink before taking his sandwich and joining Ronnie and Maria at the table.

Ronnie Anne tossed her paper plate in the trash when she finished eating. Going upstairs with the intention of crushing aliens on her video console, she thought, "I can't believe the McBrides would consider taking in one of Lincoln's weirdo sisters."

#####################################################################################

Few minutes later the Loud children sat in the living room later while Albert answered the doorbell. Howard and Harold McBride stood carrying two bags of groceries each in their left hands. Clyde stayed home because he was busy finishing homework.

"Mr. and Mr. McBride it's a pleasure to meet you," Albert greeted them warmly, then extended his right hand toward the shorter fellow.

After shaking Harold's hand, he did the same with Howard.

"Come on in," Albert said cordially and the two men stepped inside.

"Harold and I were out grocery shopping and I thought it would be a nice gesture if we bought some groceries for the children," Howard explained.

"Mr. and Mr. McBride, that's mighty generous of you," Albert responded.

"Just call us Howard and Harold," the taller husband replied, and the husbands quickly put the plastic bags on the coffee table.

Before Luan and Luna started picking up the grocery bags however Howard McBride asked them to wait a minute.

"I did some research online about the Kingsley Detention Center and discovered it's a prison for offenders who commit child abuse and child endangerment," Howard continued, deciding to omit the part about child sex offenders.

"That's a relief," thought Albert, the thought of his daughter being around murderers and sex offenders made him uneasy.

Harold said," Take care everyone."

"Bye Mr. and Mr. McBride," the children replied in unison. Luna and Luan carried the groceries into the kitchen and started putting them away. Later the leftovers from the takeout dinner were warmed up for dinner but the children ate little, mostly drinking lemonade. During dinner Albert told Lynn she was officially ungrounded to her great relief.

Later Lincoln took Charles for a walk. Lucy and Lana asked to accompany him for a breath of fresh air. They walked as far as Ketcham Park and stayed for a while before returning home.

Monday was another late rising for the children. Last night they all retired earlier, a bit later Albert checked on Lincoln then Lisa, Lily and the twins as they slept peacefully before drinking some hot coca before bed.

After breakfast Albert drove the younger girls except Lucy to the library to spend a few hours. The others tackled their usual household chores they were unable to do on Saturday with the exception of Luna helping Lori with the laundry while Lucy did the vacuuming.

That afternoon Albert baked salmon fillets the McBrides bought and Lori boiled some potatoes and carrots for dinner. Lori and Luna cleared up the kitchen as their siblings went into their bedrooms intending to just laze about. A few minutes later Lincoln casually peered out of his bedroom window and to his astonishment saw a red minivan parked in front of the house and a couple and Katie Ventura coming out of the vehicle.

"Wait that guy looks familiar, where have I seen him before?" Lincoln though, knitting his brow.

Rushing downstairs, he found Albert sitting in the armchair and the twins reading on the couch. The TV had been turned on by Lynn to watch a baseball game but she wasn't paying attention to the game.

"Pop Pop, Katie Ventura is coming up the walkway with some other people," Lincoln said loud enough for Lori and Luna to hear from the kitchen.

Albert suddenly turned off the television and managed to open the front door before the bell rang.

"Hello Ms. Ventura, what brings you here," Albert greeted the visitors while Lori ran upstairs to call the other sisters.

"Good afternoon Albert. I'd like you to meet my brother in law and sister Antonio and Melody Ventura," Katie replied.

"Pleased to meet you," Albert asked before shaking hands with the man, then said, "Come in."

The kids vacated the couch to allow the visitors to sit down. Once they were seated Albert sat in the armchair while his grandkids stood around the couch.

Katie began speaking, "Yesterday I was curious about the outcome of the trial so I contacted Judge Callahan and she said Mr. and Mrs. Loud were found guilty. When she told me the eight younger kids except Lily have been placed temporarily in other homes…

Still puzzled about where he could have seen the man's face before while Katie spoke, Lincoln suddenly realized the man was a neighbor of Clyde's whom he saw speaking with Howard as the husbands did some gardening in the front yard three months ago when Lincoln came over to play video games with Clyde.

Lincoln only heard the man say, "See you around neighbor," then saw him walk in the opposite direction.

"He's one of Clyde's neighbors," he thought excitedly.

"…..I immediately thought of a couple who would be interested in taking Lily," Katie said.

"And that couple would be us," Melody added.

The other Loud children couldn't believe their ears and Albert looked at the couple in astonishment.

"I run a home based business and Tony is a loan officer, we can provide a comfortable home for Lily," Melody explained.

The other children gave quick glances at each other and Lori nodded at her grandfather.

"It's a deal," Albert said.

"We'll be happy to have you visit our home so we can show you around, how about Friday evening at six o'clock, and bring Lily," Mr. Ventura said.

Then Lincoln decided to speak, "Mr. Ventura, I know you're one of the McBrides neighbors because I saw you speaking to Howard once when I came over."

Leni squealed, "Oh my gosh that means Lily won't be far away from here."

"Mrs. Ventura, since me and Lucy are going to live with the McBrides could you allow Lily to visit us?" Lincoln asked the couple.

"Of course you can," Melody replied then smiled at him.


	27. Chapter 27

Albert decided to know more about the couple so he asked, "How long have you lived in Royal Woods?"

"We moved here a year ago from Beaverton," Antonio replied.

"This wouldn't be the first we're doing this, our neighbor in Beaverton asked us to take temporary custody of her son because she was unable to care for him because of alcoholism, she agreed to hand over her parental rights to us when she was arrested for robbery and sentenced to ten years," Melody continued while Antonio reached into his suitcase and pulled out a business card then scribbled his phone number on the back.

"That's so sad," Leni uttered.

"We officially adopted Carey two months later, he's now six years old," Melody said.

Antonio extended his arm over for Albert to take the card and said, "Here's my cell number, so we can keep in contact," which Albert placed in his shirt pocket.

Since it was getting kind of late Melody said, "It's time for us to go."

"First I'll need your telephone number," Antonio said then pulled out his phone and Albert recited the number which he typed in his contacts.

Katie Ventura smiled at the Loud children and said, "Nice seeing all of you again."

"I hope you all have a pleasant evening," Antonio said.

Albert escorted the three visitors to the front door as Leni and Luna returned to the kitchen to resume their chore.

"I'm going to give Vanzilla a tune up," Lana said.

Lori and Lincoln had some serious studying to do for important end of year tests scheduled to take place next Wednesday morning so headed straight to their rooms to begin studying. Suddenly realizing an important person was totally forgotten about during this entire ordeal, Lynn Sr. mother, Albert went into the master bedroom and placed a call to her number on his son in laws cell phone. It took some minutes for Albert to receive a response.

"Good evening," a somewhat regal voice greeted.

"Evening Amethyst, its Albert. I don't know if Shirley called you regarding the bad news about Rita and Lynn Senior,"

"Evening Albert, yes she called me yesterday and told me the judge found Lynn and Rita guilty and gave them eighteen months which they're serving at a facility called Kingsley and told me she and Ethan are getting custody of Luan, LJ, the twins and Lisa and that you're in charge of Lori, Leni and Luna. She also said the parents of Lincoln's best friend are getting legal guardianship of him and Lucy," Amy Loud replied.

"Did she tell you the McBrides are guys? I hope you're open minded about them taking Lincoln and Lucy.

As for Lily another couple we were introduced to who are neighbors of the McBrides is taking temporary custody of her," Albert told her.

"It doesn't matter to me about the McBride's preference, what I cannot understand is how my son and Rita could allow those granddaughters of mine to become so out of control. I know the girls are a little eccentric but not controlling Lisa with her experiments and LJ playing too many contact sports that has made her lose much of her femininity is such a shame. Where did I go wrong with Lynn, I probably shouldn't have allowed him to take those darn cooking classes and toughened him when raising him," Amy continued.

"Well they have a lot of work ahead of them upon their release to be considered fit parents to get our grandkids back," Albert said.

"I appreciate your call Albert, goodbye," Amy said.

"Have a good evening Amy," Albert concluded the call.

Tuesday morning everyone woke up bright and early to prepare for school. Due to Lisa making an arrangement with NASA that resulted in three consecutive snow days in early December last year the school district decided to add an extra two days of school leading into summer vacation. Lisa received a little silent treatment from her older sisters for an entire day upon hearing about the extra days they had to attend school. Since Pop-Pop moved in the sisters knew better than to carry on with their usual time wasting antics that caused Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan to habitually reach school two minutes before the first bell rang. The evening before Lori even cautioned her sisters to refrain from doing such activities.

"Lana and Lola if I hear even a little squabble between you in the morning, I will take away your princess car and your skateboard for a week," Lori had warned the twins once Albert was out of hearing range.

The person who occupied the bathroom at the moment was Lana, Lincoln managed to snag the bathroom first and was getting dressed.

"I don't see why we have to go to school, it's only two more weeks before summer," Luna grumbled while standing behind Lori, then crossed her arms in annoyance.

"You heard Pop-Pop, we can't put off going to school just because mom and dad aren't here," Lori replied.

After breakfast, the kids grabbed their back packs and headed to Vanzilla. At Royal Woods Elementary, Clyde and another friend Liam were lingering at the schools entrance when they noticed Lincoln and his younger sisters stepping out of Vanzilla. When Lincoln came closer, Clyde and Liam gave their friend a warm welcome back. Unlike Luna, Lincoln was looking forward to returning to school because it would take his mind off the family's dilemma.

"Hey buddy," Clyde greeted.

"Hey Lincoln, welcome back," Liam drawled.

"Morning guys," Lincoln replied.

The friends made their way inside since they had seven minutes to spare before the first bell. At Royal Woods High Lori's friends quickly swarmed around her happy for their friends return.

"Whitney how was your eighteenth birthday?" Lori asked.

She had been invited to the party but had no choice but to decline the invite because of the trial.

As soon as the children left that morning, Albert proceeded to bathe Lily then kept her occupied by popping a baby learning video in the DVD player before washing the breakfast utensils then cleaning the other areas of the kitchen. Noticing a shortage of non-food essentials like paper towels Albert decided to run to the supermarket and purchase some so he turned off the video then got Lily dressed, then situated Lily in the baby carrier and placed her in the back seat of his car.

Mr. Grouse was leaving his house on his way to an optometrists appointment when he spotted Albert.

"Hello there Albert," Mr. Grouse called out.

"Morning Mr. Grouse," Albert answered in a friendly way.

The elderly neighbor was interested in hearing about the outcome of the trial so he approached Albert.

"So how'd the trial go Albert?" Mr. Grouse queried while Albert closed the door.

"Rita and Lynn Senior were found guilty, they got eighteen months," the grandfather replied.

"Sorry to hear that, are the kids going into foster care then?" Mr. Grouse asked.

"No, fortunately five of them are heading to their Aunt Shirley. Lucy and Lincoln are going to the McBrides, the parents of Lincoln's best friend and we found someone perfect for Lily here," Albert explained.

"Well I wish you and the children good luck, you're all gonna need it," Mr. Grouse said.

As Albert drove away the elderly neighbor muttered, "Looks like the neighborhood is going to become a lot quieter even though it's a shame those kids are getting split up."

Later Bobby Santiago sat with his two close friends Luis and Alfred during lunchtime.

"Hey Bobby I see your ball and chain has returned," Alfred joked, making Luis suppress a laugh.

Bobby responded with an eye roll then remarked, "Dude I wish you'd stop saying that about Lori."

"Come on dude, you hardly speak to us at lunch because she's mostly hogging your attention," Luis added, then glanced over in another direction where Lori sat eating and chatting with her female friends.

"I'm surprised she isn't coming to drag you away to sit with her friends as usual," he continued.

"So looking forward to prom guys?" Bobby asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Yeah Julia's my date," Luis replied.

After school Lori picked up the others at their respective schools and drove home. Tomorrow she had golf practice and Luna music practice so Lincoln would walk home with Clyde and the others would take the school bus.

The following two days went by smoothly for the Loud children with none of their friends asking questions about the important family matter they went through. Lori and Lincoln immediately holed themselves into their bedrooms once they arrived home from school every afternoon to study, next Wednesday would be examination day. On Saturday Lynn Jr. played in her final softball game for the season and Lincoln made the decision to stay home and instead asked Albert if he could invite Clyde over for a study session and his grandfather said yes, surprisingly none of his sisters objected. The Royal Woods Squirrels wound up losing by a margin to the other team but surprisingly Lynn Jr. kept her composure. She was disappointed sure, but displayed a positive attitude about it. True to form, she performed all of her good luck rituals, except the Cossack dance leaving her teammates surprised.

Lincoln and Clyde sat at the dining table when everyone returned from the game. Lynn dashed upstairs immediately to take a refreshing shower.

"How's it going kiddo?" Albert asked Lincoln.

"We're doing fine, Pop-Pop," Lincoln greeted, then became a little nervous.

"Did the Squirrels win?" he then asked.

To Lincoln's relief Albert responded, "No they didn't win but don't worry LJ took the loss surprisingly well. Boys you can take a break and get something to eat, Lori bought some burgers, just wash your hands in the kitchen."

After lunch Lana turned the TV on to watch cartoons with Lola and Luna had a babysitting job that evening.

**A/N: In regards to this story I'm using the 2017 calendar since I'm going by the year The Loud House started on Nickelodeon. The first day of school after the summer holidays is September 5, 2017, the day after Labor Day. Thanks to another author, I found that in Michigan, school begins after the summer holidays during the first week of September. Regarding this story certain episodes from seasons one and two won't exist but some after NSL will happen before the episode. Dance Dance Resolution, Lincoln Loud: Girl Guru, Home Spun, One of the Boys, Lock and Loud, The Whole Picture and others. Sounds of Silence will exist as a partial dream and Lincoln will still be affected by Lisa's chemical in The Butterfly Effect causing him to hallucinate the events of the Green House after heading to Clydes House before heading home to deal with his sisters.**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: I intended to write in the Louds visit to the Ventura family in the last chapter**

Last Friday after having dinner earlier, Luna bathed and dressed Lily in a lilac colored dress and sandals, everybody else decided to wear their usual outfits. In a few minutes they arrived at the Ventura residence on Jefferson Avenue, two houses away on the right side of the McBride home. The house was a single story with three bedrooms, one Melody started decorating with Lily in mind. There was a master bathroom and another one located between the other bedrooms. Compared to what the Loud's front lawn looked like weeks ago, no toys were strewn on the grass.

Luna picked Lily out of the carrier and the family walked towards the house. Lori rang the doorbell, instantly Melody opened the door. She was dressed in a green blouse and pants.

"Hello everybody, welcome to our home," Melody greeted cordially.

"Evening Mrs. Ventura," the children said in unison.

"Won't you come in," she offered.

Everyone followed their hostess into the expansive and nicely decorated living room with the walls painted a calming shade of blue. Sitting on the green living room sectional sofa reading a story book was Carey, the Ventura's son, he was in the first grade at Royal Woods Elementary but wasn't in Lana and Lola's class. Lola immediately recognized the ash haired boy whom she noticed playing with two other boys during recess. The Loud children instantly took in their surroundings with Lori's gaze fixated on a portrait of the Ventura's hung on the left side of the fireplace. Carey looked away from his book upon seeing the visitors.

"Everyone this is our son Carey," Melody said beaming.

Smiling at the visitors warmly he answered, "Good evening, everyone, nice to meet you."

"Hello Carey," the children replied as cheerfully as possible, then Antonio suddenly made his appearance.

"Evening folks, so glad you came," Antonio greeted.

"Let me show you around, the kids bedrooms are near ours so Lily won't be far away," Melody said.

They followed the couple into the bedroom nearest to the master bedroom. Purple curtain treatments adorned the windows and the crib that Carey used to sleep in was located far away from the window.

"This will be Lily's bedroom," Antonio said.

Lori and Leni were satisfied with the work done so far even though the room needed more decorations Melody hadn't purchased yet.

"Do you have a security system?" Albert asked.

"Yes we do, we're getting a baby alarm for Lily's safety and we already placed safety latches on the lower cupboards in the kitchen," Antonio explained.

Leaving the room Melody pointed to the door to the right of Lily's designated bedroom.

"That's Carey's bathroom that Lily will share and his bedroom is on the right and the master bedroom is across from theirs," Melody continued.

The visitors passed Carey still reading his book on the sofa when following their hosts towards the kitchen. The kitchen tour completed, Antonio turned to the visitors.

"Thank you all for coming," he said warmly.

"Thanks for inviting us Mr. Ventura," Lincoln remarked.

In the living room Melody approached her son and said, "Our guests are leaving Carey."

"Goodbye everyone, thanks for coming," he said.

Standing on the porch, the Venturas waited until Vanzilla disappeared out of sight until going back inside.

Sunday Lori departed the house at one p.m en route to Whitney's home for a three hour study session. Whitney had suggested on Thursday they study at her home and Lori agreed because Leni had to continue working on her prom dress without being interrupted from her studies. Luna and Lincoln took over the laundry duty while Lynn Jr did Lincoln's chore. After dinner Pop-Pop took them for a drive to Tall Timbers Park to relax for a while before returning home.

Memorial Day marked another three day weekend holiday for many of the residents of Royal Woods. Fortunately Maria Santiago wasn't scheduled to work at the hospital today since she was assigned to work the holiday last year. Hospital rules dictated medical personnel weren't allowed two consecutive Memorial Days off. The Santiago's departed at seven a.m. to spend the holiday with their extended family in Great Lakes City with Bobby driving half way and Maria the rest of the journey. While Albert and Lori prepared breakfast at 9:30 a.m. the phone rang in the living room and Albert told his oldest granddaughter he'd take the call. It was Howard McBride was calling to extend an invitation to attend a barbeque.

"Morning Albert, Happy Memorial Day," the taller husband greeted cheerfully.

"Morning Howard, how are you?" Albert asked pleasantly.

"I'm fine thanks, I know your grandkids might not in the frame of mind to celebrate, but Harold and I are having a barbeque and would like to invite everyone of you," Howard said.

"No we hadn't planned anything but I'll ask my grandkids," Albert replied.

#####################################################################################

"Thanks for making pancakes Lori," Lincoln said happily at breakfast.

"Kids I got a call from Howard McBride, he's inviting us to a barbeque this afternoon at three. Would you be interested in going?" Albert asked.

"Of course Pop-Pop we need a break from being cooped up inside the house," Luna remarked.

"Yes we should go," Leni agreed wholeheartedly.

"Okay then," Albert replied, afterwards Lori and Leni cleaned up and everyone else settled down to relax with their usual activities.

Clyde, on the other hand wasn't keen on his best friend's sisters attending the celebration when Howard announced during breakfast. Clyde's crush on Lori had evaporated completely over time ever since he learned about the Loud sisters involvement in the abuse of their brother. Suddenly everything about the girls he admired for their talents soured his outlook on them except Lily of course. He began resenting their domineering ways and expecting everything to always go their way especially Lori, Lynn and Lola.

The Loud children and Albert arrived at the McBrides at three, again wearing their usual attire with Lori carrying a bag with baby food inside for Lily to eat. Alongside Harold, another guy bearing a similar resemblance to Howard but a little shorter was helping to grill burgers. Another table with potato salad covered with foil and bottles of fruit punch and plastic cups were laid out.

"Hello Lincoln and Albert, girls," Harold addressed them in a cheerful tone.

"Hello Mr. McBrides," they chanted together.

"Oh where are my manners, this is my brother Roland Harris," Howard said.

"Pleased to meet you," Albert replied before shaking hands with the other guy.

Lori, Leni, Lucy and Lola sat at one table and the other sisters at another, meanwhile Clyde walked outside to meet Lincoln. He looked across the backyard at the sisters and took a deep breath before approaching them intending to act as cordially as possible.

"Hello girls, glad you could make it to our barbeque," Clyde said with a measured tone.

The Loud sisters smiled warmly at their brother's best friend and responded back, then Lori became puzzled over Clyde not becoming nervous and nose bleeding in her presence.

"Hello Clyde," Luna and Leni said together.

"Hey buddy lets watch some cartoons until we're called," Clyde suggested.

"_Looks like Clyde has gotten over his silly crush with me, I wonder if what we did to Lincoln has something to do with it," Lori thought._

The older sisters passed the time on their phones watching ME tube videos on the internet. Lori wisely told the younger girls to bring something to read.

Time passed and the burgers were finally done. Roland entered the living room to tell the boys the food was ready. Lily was getting fed by Lori while seated in her older sister's lap.

"Albert Clyde told me on Wednesday some good news. Lincoln called him on Tuesday night and told him our neighbors the Ventura's visited you with the lady who rescued him at the beach and that they wanted to take custody of Lily," Harold said as they sat next to each other enjoying their burgers.

"That's right," Albert declared.

"You must be so relieved to know shell be living nearer to Lincoln and Lucy," Howard said.

"Yes it was a fortunate coincidence Katie is related to them," Albert replied.

Lincoln and Clyde ate silently at the same table with the adult males while the sisters were equally silent.

Meanwhile Bud Grouse sat with Mrs. Francis and husband Kent in their backyard at their Memorial Day feast he gets invited to each year with Tyler and another couple.

Later at the McBride's everyone finished eating and the Loud children thanked Harold and Howard for inviting them but Clyde had disappeared upon their departure.

The children spent the remainder of the day watching TV and packing their bags for school tomorrow until their eight thirty bedtime.

The next day Tuesday May 30, Lori and Lincoln received their examination schedules at first period after roll call. During dinner Lincoln asked his grandfather if there was a possibility to visit their parents any time soon.

"First I would have to call and find out when are the visiting hours," Albert said.

Minutes after the children left, Albert bathed Lily and once he situated her on the couch and turned on the DVD then logged onto the family computer and looked up Kingsley's phone number. Before he got the chance however the phone started ringing. He quickly grabbed the receiver upon noticing Amy Louds phone number.

"Morning Albert Amy here how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine Amy what are you calling for?" he queried.

"Last Friday I found the number of Kingsley and called to find out the visiting hours. I'm going to see Lynn and Rita today," she responded.

"That's a coincidence I was just about to call them. When are the visiting hours?" Albert queried.

"Visiting hours are Tuesdays to Wednesdays from three to six in the afternoons and Saturdays from one p.m. to five p.m.," Amy replied.

"Thank you Amy, tell them I'll visit them with Lori before school ends," he answered.

"Will do Albert take care," she ended.

"Same to you Amy," he answered before hanging up.

At three p.m Rita and Lynn Sr. were summoned while sitting in the library reading during relaxation time.

"Rita and Lynn Loud you have a visitor," a male guard announced over the intercom.

Without saying a word, the couple left the library and towards the visitors area with two guards stationed inside the room. Lynn Sr. released a gasp seeing his mother sitting at a table with two chairs on the opposite side.

"Mom," he squeaked out while Rita's eyes widened.

Lynn Sr. took the chair on Rita's left then grabbed her hand in support.

Rita spoke first. "I'm surprised to see you Amethyst."

"Hello mom, how are you?" Lynn Sr. said confidently.

"I'm fine thank you," she answered.

A few tense seconds passed amongst them with Amy retaining her poker faced expression.

"I'm really disappointed with both of you," she began then Lynn Sr. looked down shamefaced.

"Mom I will admit we've made some dumb decisions," he defended.

"Shirley told me you made Lincoln suffer in some mascot suit at the beach as punishment for lying to avoid going to your daughter's events. That isn't something smart parents do," Amy said, voice rising in anger.

"We now realize we weren't thinking straight," Rita replied.

"What about this sister fight protocol Shirley told me that was shown in court and Lori and Leni fighting over a dress, Lisa putting tracking chips into both of you and making plans to do the same to everyone else and Junior forcing Lincoln to attend her baseball game by threatening him with a bat because he refused to go?" Amy questioned.

"Mom it's challenging to raise many kids with strong personalities we really try," Lynn Sr. declared.

"That's no excuse, I managed to raise three kids by not allowing them to behave however they please," his mother replied.

"I know Amy," Rita answered.

More tension between the adults followed before Amy continued, "Well it's unfortunate we had to meet under these circumstances," then rose from her chair.

"Nice seeing you Amy," Rita said

"Goodbye mom," Lynn Sr. replied.

The couple waited until her departure before returning to the library.


	29. Chapter 29

Albert sat in the kitchen peeling potatoes for a Shepherds' pie he planned on making for dinner while Lily napped upstairs peacefully in her crib. At the moment Vanzilla pulled into the driveway. The siblings, relieved another school day was over, sped towards the house. Lynn reached first and unlocked the door.

"Hello Pop Pop," they all chanted.

"Afternoon, kiddos, remember do your homework after you eat," Albert reminded them.

Lori and Lincoln didn't receive any homework so they went upstairs to study after their snack. First Lori called the beauty salon at the mall to make an appointment for Friday to get her hair styled. The senior students were excused from classes on Friday because of the prom.

Later at bedtime Lincoln heard Clyde's voice coming from his walkie talkie and answered the call.

"Hey buddy stoked for tomorrows exam," Lincoln said enthusiastically.

"Of course say could you get Pop Pops permission to hang out at Gus with the three redheads for a little relaxation after school," Clyde asked.

"I haven't gotten an allowance in two weeks, let's just watch TV at your house," Lincoln replied.

"We could do that I'll call the others and tell them go onto Gus without us, night Lincoln," Clyde said.

"Night Clyde," Lincoln said.

The next morning, Wednesday May 31 Lincoln and Lori showed a little trepidation since both had examinations today. The fifth grade exams would be taking place in the auditorium so P.E. was cancelled for the other students. The first subject being Science, then Social Studies, History, English, each lasting 30 minutes then after recess, a forty five minute Math exam, finally Art from 12.50 until 1: 30. Lori's schedule was a little more complicated with an hour Math exam and forty minutes for the other subjects. At 8:30 Lori had Biology then American History, English Language, Physics, an hour recess, Mathematics, Geography, then Home Economics from 2: 20 p.m. until three.

"Pop-Pop is it okay if I go with Clyde to his house after school, exams finish at one thirty," Lincoln asked during their breakfast of oatmeal and toast with grape jelly.

"Oh sure kiddo," Albert responded.

Minutes later the siblings were ready for school after brushing their teeth.

"Lincoln, Lori, best wishes on your exams," Albert declared as they gathered in the living room.

"Thanks Pop Pop," Lori replied.

Once the siblings departed Albert bathed Lily then settled the infant on the couch to watch her videos then washed the breakfast utensils before relaxing on the couch to read a novel.

At 1: 00 p.m. Lincoln, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne and the other fifth graders, thankful the hectic day of examinations were finally behind them left the auditorium and headed towards the lockers to retrieve their belongings.

"Thank God this day is over," Clyde exclaimed, grabbing his purple bag.

"I'm going straight home and get some shut eye," Ronnie Anne declared.

"See ya tomorrow RA," Lincoln said, hoisting his blue bag over his shoulder.

At 3:00 p.m. Albert went to the retrieve the mail while Lily napped. Within a few minutes the sisters arrived home.

"Lori you got a letter from Michigana State University," Albert said while the sisters ate BLT sandwiches.

Lori's eyes widened in surprise and uttered, "Really?"

"It's on your dresser and Lola you received an invitation from the Royal Woods Pageant Committee to participate in the Little Miss Summertime pageant in July," he added.

"I'm turning down the invitation since mommy and daddy wouldn't be there to watch," she replied sadly. Albert left the girls to start preparing macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Afterwards Lori hurried upstairs to her bedroom, eager to read the response letter from Michigana State. Initially she planned on applying to Great Lakes College since she and Bobby planned on going there because his Uncle Carlos was a Professor at the College, but her friend Dana told her it would be wiser to apply to more than one. With one finger Lori swiftly tore open the letter and began reading.

_Dear Miss Lori Loud_

_We regret to inform we're unable to offer you admission into Michigana State. Our decision is based on the fact we require all applicants to have at least one hundred hours of community service work and more than one extracurricular activity. Regretfully, your academic record does not meet these requirements._

_Thank you for spending time and effort in applying. We wish you the best of luck in your academic future!_

_Best regards,_

_Mrs. Janice McGowan_

_Dean of Admissions_

Lori sighed then refolded the letter and placed it inside the envelope and shoved it inside the top drawer of her dresser.

Lincoln arrived home at four thirty after watching reruns of AARGH with Clyde to unwind with Clyde ordering a pepperoni pizza for them to enjoy. He noticed the twins, Luan sitting on the couch watching cartoons and Lisa was tutoring Luna in her room for a History test on Monday while Leni completed Lori's prom dress

"Afternoon," Lincoln greeted then joined his sisters on the couch. On Friday Lori's siblings rode the school bus to and after school. Lori slept until nine thirty had oatmeal and coffee for breakfast then headed for her 10:30 appointment at the salon with money she saved from various babysitting jobs. Albert would make dinner earlier than usual to accommodate Lori's schedule.

Later that evening Albert and his other grandkids waited in the living room in anticipation of seeing Lori arrive downstairs wearing her prom dress.

"Here she comes," Lola whispered excitedly upon hearing Loris heels clicking on the stairs.

Once Lori reached downstairs, Lola gazed at her older sister's dress in awe, her eyes sparkling.

"Your dress is beautiful Lori," the six year old gushed.

"Thanks Lola," Lori said.

Albert beamed with pride at his granddaughter, holding a cheap instant camera he bought when getting his prescription filled yesterday morning with Lily in tow.

"You look wonderful kiddo," Albert remarked

"Thanks Pop Pop," Lori said.

"Come on, let's take a photo," Albert requested.

Lori stood in front of the fireplace with her siblings standing behind the couch looking on while Albert snapped two photos. After the second one Lincoln looked through the window and noticed Bobby's van parked in the driveway.

"Hey Bobby's here," he announced making Lori gasp.

Albert opened the front door and greeted the teenage boy dressed in a tux looking quite dapper.

"Good evening you must be Lori's beau, I'm her grandfather, Albert," he greeted, smiling broadly then extended his right hand.

"Pleased to meet you Sir," Bobby replied politely as they shook hands.

Bobby followed Albert into the living room where his gaze fell upon Lori wearing the knee length sky blue dress with spaghetti straps.

Awestruck by his estranged girlfriend with her new hairstyle Bobby finally spoke after five seconds passed.

"You look terrific Lori," Bobby blurted out

"Oh thanks Bobby you look wonderful," Lori replied.

"Bobby could you stand beside Lori at the front door, I'd like to take your picture," Albert requested.

Without a word the teenagers positioned themselves at the door, Bobby standing on Lori's left and wrapped his arm around her elbow. When Albert was satisfied after snapping two pictures Bobby glanced at his watch.

"It was nice meeting you Albert but we have to go," Bobby remarked.

"Have a super great time," Leni said in a cheery tone.

Everyone except Lisa accompanied the teenagers outside and watched Bobby escort Lori into the passenger side of his van then eventually went inside after the vehicle disappeared from sight.

**That's all I have for now**


	30. Chapter 30

Back inside the house, Albert went into the master bedroom to read one of his novels while Lynn Jr. dashed upstairs. Every night Albert would do some reading then shower at seven p.m. then before his bedtime drink a cup of warm milk. Lynn rushed upstairs to grab her basketball while the other kids settled down on the couch to watch the latest episode of _Vicky, Micky, Becky, and Sean_.

"Does anyone want to watch Lord of the Rings afterwards?" Lincoln asked turning on the TV.

"Not me bro, I'm going upstairs to study after the show," Luna replied.

Lincoln got up and retrieved the movie from the drawer of the TV stand.

When Lynn returned downstairs carrying her basketball she called out, "Hey guys I'm just going to shoot some hoops."

"Just don't stay out until night, Pop-Pop might get angry," Leni warned.

Royal Woods High School

Once Bobby and Lori arrived at school Bobby parked in the empty space to the left of Whitney's car in the parking area reserved for students. After unbuckling their seatbelts, Bobby surprised Lori by taking her hand which made Lori instinctively turn her head in Bobby's direction. She noticed him wearing an anxious expression on his face.

"Is something wrong?" the teenage girl inquired worriedly.

Bobby took a deep breath before speaking.

"Lori it took me a long while to make this decision, I know you regret how your actions towards Lincoln so I'm willing to give our relationship another chance," Bobby declared.

"Are you serious," she whispered in disbelief, then realized he meant it by the expression on his face.

"I'm serious Lori, let's get back together," Bobby replied.

"Yes," she squealed in delight then Lori enveloped him in a warm embrace which he returned.

The embrace lasted for five seconds until they released each other. Bobby told her, "Wait here."

He embarked from the vehicle, went around the passenger side and opened the door for her then the reunited couple walked arm in arm towards the school smiling happily.

Later

"I wish I could eat another one of those hot dogs we had for dinner," Lana admitted once the movie credits rolled on screen. Lynn had gone straight upstairs to shower and retired to bed after spending almost an hour outside. Lola didn't stay around until the end however when she became sleepy eyed and departed for bed thirty minutes before the movie ended.

"Well we might as well go to bed," Lincoln remarked then lifted Lisa head from his lap where she had fallen asleep.

While Lincoln gathered the empty bowls that held popcorn Luan made before the movie began Leni gently picked up the genius child and went upstairs with the others.

It was past eleven the next morning when Lori eventually awoke. Being hungry she washed her face to wake up properly, dressed in her usual attire and headed downstairs for breakfast. She saw the twins watching cartoons and discovered everyone else finished breakfast. Albert saved a couple of pancakes for Lori on the dining table which she reheated in the microwave then poured a mug of coffee. After breakfast Lori passed the small table near the couch when the telephone rang. To her surprise Lori saw her grandmother's name on the caller ID and swiftly picked up the receiver.

"Oh hi, Grandma Amy," she squealed causing her other siblings to come rushing towards her.

"Is this Lori," she heard her grandmother ask.

"Yes, it's me, how are you Gran Amy," she replied.

"I'm doing well, could I say hello to everybody," their grandmother requested.

"Gimme," Lola said rudely extending her right hand but earned a harsh glare from Lori who stretched the receiver toward her siblings.

They gathered close to each other around the receiver and chanted, "Hello Gran Amy," in unison.

"Nice to hear from all of you," she replied, "Is Albert around."

"Right now Pop Pop's in the bathroom," Lori answered.

"Have you made any plans for tomorrow? It's been over a year since I've seen all of you. I'd like to come for a visit," she asked.

"No Gran Amy we usually stay home on Sundays," Lori replied.

"Is four o'clock in the afternoon okay," was her response.

"Yes Gran Amy," the teenager replied.

"All right then I'll be there," their grandmother said.

"I will tell Pop-Pop you called. Bye Gran Amy," Lori said.

"Goodbye Lori Lou," Amy replied before hanging up.

Lori turned to her siblings once she placed the receiver down.

"I'm starting on the laundry, Leni could you dust the furniture and Lola tell Pop-Pop when he gets out of the bathroom Gran Amy called and is coming tomorrow," Lori commanded.

"Okay Lori," the second oldest replied.

After the chore fiasco a few months resulting in the female reporter who arrived to interview Lola for an upcoming Miss Cute and Clean pageant who saw the entire house in disarray reporting them to CPS only for the CPS worker discovering the house was completely immaculate upon their arrival. The parents made a compromise with the children to assign chores fairly so they could do different chores every once in a while except the younger girls were exempt from collecting and taking out the garbage and to give them five dollars each for doing chores along with their weekly allowances. Lynn decided to sweep the back and front porches but first made a call to her friend Margo Roberts.

"Hey Margo wanna do some skating in the park. I'll be there in about half an hour," Lynn told her friend.

"Sure," Margo replied.

With her chore finally completed Lynn was free to hang out with Margo. She quickly grabbed her skates from her bedroom and informed Albert she was heading to the park.

"Have fun LJ," Albert said.

Unaware that a tall and husky teenage boy Lynn's age named Denver, a cousin of Marvin Bennett who testified against the family was waiting for her arrival in the park intent on getting payback for Lynn intimidating Marvin a few months ago. Denver wasn't in the same seventh grade class as Lynn and Margo. He often came to the park to ride his bicycle and saw Lynn and her friends often.

At Ketcham Park Margo Roberts sat on a bench waiting patiently for Lynn and another friend Paula who was running late. Only a few people were currently at the park when Lynn arrived. She noticed that her friend's shoelaces were undone.

"Margo, you're left shoelaces are untied," Lynn pointed out.

When Margo knelt on the ground and began tying her laces, Lynn heard a loud voice behind her.

"Hey Lynnsanity," Denver shouted angrily.

Lynn quickly spun around to face the person. Before she could get the opportunity to speak, she found herself being grabbed harshly by her collar by Denver and hoisted off her feet. Paula now appeared and stood beside Margo.

"H-H-Hi Denver," Lynn said nervously while struggling to free herself.

"Leave her alone," Margo shouted

"Butt out Margo, this only concerns us," Denver growled before strengthening his hold on Lynn while Marvin stood a distance away smirking with his arms crossed.

"You wanna know the reason why she was absent from school, her parents were on trial for child abuse. My cousin Marvin was there and testified that she accused him of picking on her brother and dragged him home so her brother could identify him," Denver said.

"Ho-how'd you find out," Lynn sputtered.

"My uncle's a Bailiff at the courthouse. He came to my family's barbeque Monday and said he was working at the trial. He told us he couldn't mention anything else," Denver explained.

Denver placed her down roughly still holding her collar with his left hand then growled, "Now I'm pulverize you for what you did to Marvin," then pulled back his right fist.

Lynn's head snapped backwards when his fist collided with her right cheek, then Denver released her making Lynn Jr stagger then fall on the ground in pain.

A few onlookers in the distance and out of hearing range watched the attack in complete shock fortunately nobody had bothered to take their phones to snap photos. Lynn slowly raised her head and saw Denver looking down at her with an intense scowl on his face. Margo and Paula remained rooted to the spot shocked at everything Denver had revealed.

"You're lucky, I won't blab to everyone at school," he snarled then without saying another word Denver and Marvin walked away satisfied.

Lynn's friends immediately rushed towards her in concern as she managed to stand on her feet.

"Are you all right?" Paula asked with concern and Lynn nodded slowly.

"Let's go to my house since it's nearer and get you treated," Margo suggested.

Paula snatched Lynn's skates that had fallen on the ground when Denver grabbed her and the friends crossed the street to the Roberts residence, a blue one story house that faced Ketcham Park. On their arrival the girls could hear someone starting a lawnmower which came from the backyard.

"That's dad working in the backyard and mom went to work at the hospital," she explained.

Margo unlocked the front door and they walked inside. Margo led the way into the bathroom with Paula and Lynn following close behind.

"So you know why I was absent from school for a while," Lynn said glumly as Margo placed the cotton, rubbing alcohol and bandages back into the medicine cabinet after treating Lynn's injury.

"We understand why you wouldn't tell us," Paula said.

They remained quiet for a moment until the silence was broken.

"Are you going back home or coming back with us to the park," Margo asked.

"I can manage," Lynn replied, "Let's go."

They spent an hour skating then bought chocolate ice cream from the park vendor to enjoy before heading back home.


End file.
